


where she doesn't belong

by forthehonorr



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-03-29 12:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19019626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forthehonorr/pseuds/forthehonorr
Summary: Kara felt the ground shaking below her feet, the soles of her boots pounding against it as she ran somewhere.  Kara didn’t know where she was running, or who the shadowy figure holding her hand was.  The surrounding scenery shifted from a train station or to an airport, but she had a sinking feeling that she was leaving somewhere, somewhere important.  A hand touches her face gently and then she wakes up.(Kara ends up on Earth 1 by mistake when exiting the Phantom Zone.)(A rewrite of History Has It's Eyes on You)





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Rewriting an old fic because I got back into the DCTV verse? Very likely.

Kara felt the ground shaking below her feet, the soles of her boots pounding against it as she ran somewhere.  Kara didn’t know where she was running, or who the shadowy figure holding her hand was. The surrounding scenery shifted from a train station or to an airport, but she had a sinking feeling that she was leaving somewhere, somewhere important.  A hand touches her face gently and then she wakes up.

 

_ That dream again...  _ She thought, sitting up in bed and looking around her Central City apartment.  _ Still here... _

 

She could always remember having this dream, ever since she could remember at least.

This was Kara’s routine, always she would wake up with the feeling that she was missing something, the feeling that, if she simply hadn’t woken up all the answers she’d want all her life would be there at the end of the dream, waiting for her like an old friend, 

_ Not like, I have any of those anyway... _ She thought grimly, pulling herself from her bed and clambering out the window to the rickety fire escape.  _ Maybe, the fresh air will clear my head. _

 

Kara didn’t have a last name, not as far as she was concerned, the last name she had been Danvers, and that’s what she put on all her bills, but Kara didn’t need a last name to know who she was, she was Kara, the runaway, the thief, the orphan girl, or the freak.

Kara’s first memory was waking up in a hospital, from then on out it was hell for her, going from home to home in the foster system, never feeling like she belonged anywhere, the main reason because she wasn't... human.

In her mind, she likes to call them, her powers, because when she was growing up they were the only things that made her feel powerful.  She could jump off a building and land unscathed and nothing could pierce her skin; like it was made of steel. At first, she thought she was magical, a beautiful princess sent from a far-off land, but as she got older, she started to think of them as a curse because whenever she used them, she would destroy things or hurt people.

She tried to tell people about her abilities, but they didn’t believe her and when she tried to show them, they looked at her as a freak; and eventually, she started to think she was.

After all, no one else had these powers, she was an abomination, a cruel joke by whatever created her, so she ran away much, always ending up back in the system eventually because even if she had steel skin, she could still get tired and hungry.

_ Simply my luck I get god-like powers, and I still need to eat... _

Being outside at night always cleared Kara’s mind, something about the stars above made her heart pang and the sound of distant cars passing by made her relax, reminding her she was far away from... _ there _ . Living in Central City had its perks, it was a quiet city, an afterthought on a map, in fact, if you didn’t know it existed you could pass right by it, Kara figured.  The only tourist attraction they had was the so-called “flash” that saved people, she mostly dismissed that as a load of crap, a ploy by the mayor’s office with fancy projectors and an actor in a stupid red suit trying to capitalize off the rise in vigilantism.

 

Kara relaxed her tense shoulders she leaned against the railing, feeling the cool night air blow across her face, a thought crossed her mind.

_ It couldn’t hurt...it’s been so long. _ Kara looked around, no one was on the street below, no one would see her. 

 

Kara let go of the railing, letting herself soar up, up up into the sky, she felt the wind glancing upon her skin as she flew over Central City, over the oblivious citizens below.

The sky was the one place Kara felt like she was actually home like she didn’t need to run anymore, she could just soar forever with not a care in the world.

Looking down below her, Kara gazed absently at the grid-like streets when she saw what looked like...Lightning weaving throughout them.

“What the hell?” She murmured; quickly, she sped up and followed it, before losing sight of it behind a high-rise.

Kara bit her lip and looked around at the clouds surrounding her and at the many lights in the windows.

_ No one will see if I go investigate, it’ll be fine... _

Thinking this, she descended slowly so she was level with a nearby building.

“Who are you?” A male voice next to her suddenly made her jump out of her skin, she whirled around to look and standing there was a man in a ridiculous leather bodysuit, a mask covering his face and hair, his chest emblazoned with a red circle, a lightning bolt piercing it. “I said...Who are you?  Why are you following me?”

Kara blinked, looking him up and down, unable to find the words to speak she quite looked like a fish, her mouth opening and closing as the words died in her mouth, the man turned his head as if hearing something in his ear, Kara took her chance and with a rush of air, she was gone, speeding back towards her apartment.

_ Who the hell was that guy? _ The wind whipped through Kara’s hair, she was still flying pretty low.  _ That couldn’t have been the Flash, he’s just a hoax... _ Kara stopped midair Isn’t he?

“You’re fast!” She heard the voice behind her again. “But so am I!”

The man, The Flash, had a shit-eating grin on his face as he looked up at her.

“H-How?” She heard herself saying before she realized she was even speaking.

“I’m The Flash.” He grinned wider.

“That’s a pretty dumb name.” She answered, crossing her arms.

_ What am I doing bantering with this guy?  I should just get out of here. _

“Are you a meta?”

“A what?”

“A meta-human, you know, people with powers.”

_ Wait, there are other people who have powers?  _ Kara’s mind reeled. _ If The Flash is real, that means… _

“There are other people like me?” Kara felt her bare feet touch the concrete of the rooftop.

_ Am I dreaming? _

“Hey,” The Flash spoke softly, approaching her. “I know some people who can help you if you just come with me..” The Flash reached out his hand and touched her shoulder.

Before Kara realized what she was doing, she knocked his hand away with her forearm, sending him skidding backward off the rooftop.

“Oh shit!” She jumped forward, following him as he fell, she quickly caught up and caught him by one of his arms, a sickening click sound following.

The Flash screamed in pain, his arm clearly dislocated.

“Ah!  Sorry, sorry!” She profusely apologized. 

“Just take me to S.T.A.R labs!  Quick!” He shouted.

Kara pulled him up, slinging him over her shoulder and flying toward the infamous S.TA.R Laboratory

 

__

 

To say Kara felt out of place in S.T.A.R labs was an understatement, standing on the polished concrete floor barefoot, still in her tank top and shorts that she wore as pajamas, surrounded by the bustling of a red-headed woman and a long-haired man, all the while a man in a wheelchair stared at her, making her uncomfortable.  Whoever The Flash was, he had weird friends, although, at some point when she was standing there, the red-headed woman had kindly handed her a sweatshirt with the company logo on it to wear over her tank top.

_ Can’t I just leave?  I’m not a prisoner… _

“Hey, thanks for saving me.” The Flash’s voice next to her startled her out of her thoughts. 

Kara looked over at him, the arm she had caught him with was in a sling, having just been relocated and he had pulled his mask off his face, revealing brown hair that was pushed back off his forehead and a strong jawline, his blue eyes sparkled. 

“It’s what any decent person would do.” She replied plainly.

“You’d be surprised.” He chuckled.  The Flash held out his good hand. “I’m Barry, Barry Allen that is.”

“Aren’t you superhero types not supposed to reveal your identities?” Kara looked quizzically down at his hand, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, but I get a good feeling about you.” Barry held out his hand imploringly, Kara took it and shook it gingerly.

“Kara.” She said after a moment.

“No last name?” Barry tilted his head.

“Kara Danvers.” Kara sighed. “Are you gonna ask me my social security number next or can I just go?”

“W-Wait!” Barry went to touch her shoulder, before thinking better of it. “My friend Caitlyn...Rather, Dr. Snow would like to run some tests on you if you don’t mind, we’ve never seen a meta-human like you before, your powers are...I mean wow!”

_ Tests?  Oh no, I’ve heard that whole ‘tests’ spiel before… _

Kara recoiled. “What kind of tests?” 

“Just seeing what you can do, stuff like that.” Barry looked at her, seeing her hesitation. “Only if you want to, we don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to.”

_ I don’t like the sound of this one bit...but... _ Kara looked at Barry, who’s kind eyes somehow put her at ease. 

“Fine, whatever..” She answered.

“Yes!” The long haired man exclaimed before realizing he had spoken aloud. 

The red-headed woman (who Kara figured was Dr. Snow.) smacked him on the arm.

“Cisco!” She scolded. “Sorry about him, he just gets excited, if you’ll follow me, Kara.” She spoke kindly but something about her put Kara off.

Nonetheless, Kara followed her into a room off the main room with a hospital bed in the center.

“Please sit down,” Kara reluctantly sat on the bed. “Do you mind if I take some blood?”

“Uh, I don’t think that’ll wor-” Kara began to say, just as Dr. Snow attempted to push the needle into her arm, it snapped clean off.

“That is so cool…” The long-haired man, who Kara figured was Cisco said in astonishment. 

“I tried to tell you, sorry,” Kara said apologetically. “Needles don’t really work on me.”

“Why don’t you just tell us when your powers started showing?  Where were you the night of the Particle Accelerator explosion?” Dr. Snow asked, putting down her medical supplies, somewhat resigned.

“Ever since I can remember I guess?” Kara puffed. “And I didn’t live in Central City until a few weeks ago, I read about that in an article though, what does that have anything to do with my powers?” 

Barry spoke up. “The night the particle accelerator exploded, dark matter was released into the city, and that causes powers to arise in some people, we figured that was what happened to you,” He looked her way, examining her. “But you said ever since you can remember so that means the particle accelerator wasn’t the cause of your powers...Caitlin, can you scan for dark matter without taking her blood?”

“Of course.” Dr. Snow opened a drawer and took out some sort of device that looked kind of like an airport security wand and started scanning Kara with it.

“So what can you do?  I mean we know you can fly and throw a 165-pound man off a building, but is that it?” Kara looked over to the source of the voice to find Cisco standing next to her, looking at her like she was a science fair project.

“Uhh...Personal space much?” She asked, leaning away from him. “I don’t really know, I haven’t really, tried a lot?  I mean once I lifted a car..”

“Damn girl!  You like some kinda Super girl….Supergirl!  First try!” Cisco pumped his fist in the air.  “Man, I would love to see you and Barry race, your flight against his speed!”

“Wait, what?  Slow down, what did you call me?” Kara scoffed.

“Supergirl, it’s a name, like The Flash or The Arrow,” Cisco replied. “It’s kinda my job to come up with the names around here.”

“I don’t need a name, I’m not a vigilante.  And shouldn’t it be superwoman?” Kara stood up. “I’m done, you people are all kinds of weird, trust me, I know.”

Kara stomped (as best she could with no shoes on) out of the lab, the gaze of the wheelchaired man still following her, sending a shiver up her spine as she exited.

“Kara, wait!” Barry called after her.

Kara stopped at the end of the hallway, finding an elevator and pressing the button.

_ Just who do they think they are?  They just expect me to sit there while they examine me like something they can study. _

Barry suddenly appeared next to her, his feet skidding, lightning still glancing off his arms.

“Sorry about them, Cisco can get a little, excited.” Barry shrugged. “Listen, I know that we just met but we could really use someone like you on our team, so maybe call me sometime?” He handed her a simple business card with the words “Barry Allen, CSI, Central City Police Department Precinct 25” and a phone number.

“A CSI?”  Kara scoffed, looking up at him. “Are you all just gigantic nerds?”

“You wound me, Kara Danvers.” Barry put his good hand on his chest. “Well, more than you already did that is.”

“I’m really sorry about that by the way,” Kara said guiltily.

“You saved my life!  Plus, nothing a little speed healing won’t fix.” Barry chuckled.

The elevator dinged behind them.

“I gotta go but...Maybe you’ll hear from me again, who knows, I might need someone to run really fast.” Kara joked, stepping into the elevator.

“Very funny.” Barry japed back as the elevator doors closed.

_ Why is he so easy to talk to? _ Kara cursed under her breath.  _ Dammit, what have I gotten myself into? _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me? writing in ships?? it's more likely than you think...

 

“Barry!  You should come and see this!” Caitlin shouted from the cortex, startling Barry from his daze.

Barry glanced back at the elevator one last time, smiling to himself before running back to the cortex.   
“Yeah Caitlin, what’s up?” He asked.

“She has no dark matter in her system, like at all!” Cisco said, walking in from behind Barry, holding a tablet with data scrawling over it.  “How can someone fly and yet have no dark matter you ask?” Cisco pointed to Caitlin, who clicked a remote, turning on a display.

“I don’t think she’s even human, Barry.” Caitlin pointed to the display, which showed a 3d model of a human with dark purple blood veins. “This is a normal meta, as you can see there’s dark matter in their systems from the particle accelerator,” Caitlin clicked the remote again, showing another model, this time with bright yellow blood veins. “This is Kara.”   
“So, what does that mean, she’s an alien?” Barry scoffed. “Guys, aliens don’t actually exist, plus she looks plenty human to me, aren’t aliens supposed to be, you know little green men?”

Caitlin rolled her eyes, clicking the remote again.   
“Her cells are highly irradiated, filled with some kind of energy, I’d have to draw blood to know more but these readouts…” Caitlin looked at Barry pointedly. “I’ve never seen anything like it, Barry, not even in your cells.”

Barry put his hands on the back of his head, puffing out air.   
“So what does that mean?”

“It means…” Cisco said imploringly. “You have to get her back here and I need to find a way to draw her blood.”   
“What?!  Why me?”   
“Bro, seriously, she ooobviously likes you,” Cisco gestured with his hands as he spoke, shushing Barry when he tried to talk.  “She only agreed to Caitlin’s testing when you asked her!” 

Barry raised his eyebrows and looked at Caitlin for support, who simply shrugged.   
“I heard you two flirting in the hallway…” She teased.

“Th-Come on, that was not flirting!” Barry argued.

“Barry, your love life aside,” Dr. Wells finally spoke up, moving towards the trio in his wheelchair as he spoke. “This Kara Danvers could be a great ally to Team Flash, and this could be humanity’s first contact with alien lifeforms, truly this would be a remarkable study opportunity.”

Barry ran his hand along the back of his head, thinking for a moment.

“I don’t wanna force her into anything she doesn’t want to do,” He finally said. “I gave her my card, that’s all I’m going to do, for now, the rest is up to her.”   
“Dude!  I wanna study an alien!” Cisco complained, leaning his hands on the desk. “For your sake, I hope this girl calls you back.”

“Don’t worry!  She’ll call!”   
_ I hope  _ Barry added silently.

“Look, it’s late, we should all go home and get some sleep.” Dr. Wells said, wheeling himself out the cortex door. “Au Revoir!” 

“Dr. Wells is right, Cisco, you can think about aliens in the morning.” Caitlin yawned, putting her hand on Cisco’s shoulder comfortingly. “I just hope we don’t get another late-night meta attack..” 

“Right, it’s like these metas have no concept of what time it is or if I’m trying to have a nice relaxing weekend.” Cisco yawned as well, Caitlin’s yawn clearly contagious. “I wish I could make something that made me not need to slee-Wait, nevermind, that’s the beginning of this story I read this one time…” Cisco began.   
“Yeah, you guys go, I’m gonna stay here for a bit, burn the midnight oil.” Barry interrupted.   
Caitlin looked skeptical, she always knew how to see right through him and she (and Barry) knew it.   
“All right Barry, but don’t stay too late.” She gave in. “Doctor’s orders!” she scolded.

“Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted, this story is about these Russian guys who like, never slept an-” Cisco’s voice faded out as he and Caitlin walked out together, leaving Barry along in the Cortex.

_ Maybe I can make some kind of algorithm to find her... _ Barry sat down in the desk chair, looking down at the screen.  _ Just in case she, you know, needs me for something… _

 

___

 

Kara fell back into her bed with a groan, squeezing her eyes shut.

_ Maybe I shouldn’t have left in such a huff... _ She put her arm over her eyes, trying to block the light coming in from her window.  _ I mean, they were just trying to help, I guess… _

Kara let her eyes slide shut, attempting to fall asleep despite the exciting events of the night.

“Brrring!” Her alarm started to ring, earning a groan from her. 

Kara reached out and grabbed the clock in one hand, peering at the time through a half-closed eyelid, resisting the urge to crush it, she sat up, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.   
_ Right...I have my first day at that stupid hipster-ass coffee place... _ For the third time that day, Kara groaned.  _ Why did I have to sign up for the morning shift? _

 

So far, Kara’s first day had been uneventful, she had only wanted to strangle a couple of customers, and her trainer (Mia? Maya?) was pretty nice.

_ Now if only I could figure out this damn contraption... _ Kara slapped the side of the coffee dispenser in frustration, denting it only slightly.  _ Stupid thing! _

Kara really wished she had been paying attention when her trainer told her how to work it, and that she had been paying attention when she was told whatever the hell her name was so she could ask.

“One Flash please,” A familiar man’s voice sounded from the counter, clearly talking to her.  Kara whirled around, hoping that whoever it was didn’t see her dent the coffee machine when she saw who it was.   
“Barry?” She asked, staring at him, he looked tired, still dressed in his clothes from yesterday.

“Kara?  You, you uh, work at Jitters?” Barry raised his eyebrows. 

“What, am I not allowed to have a day job, Mr. CSI?” She quipped back, leaning against the counter and glaring, almost playfully, up at him.

“No, no, of course, you’re allowed to, I just uh, wasn’t expecting to see you here?” Barry nervously ran his hand along the back of his neck. “Look, I’m sorry for how things went last night, we didn’t mean to overwhelm you, really.”

“I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t’ve just...Left like that, I guess you guys were just trying to help me…” Kara nervously tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m just not used to people being so...Nice.”   
Barry tilted his head. “What, really?”

_ Here come the questions.  _ Kara thought morbidly.  _ Let’s all pity the orphan girl! _

Suddenly, a large crash sounded from outside, shaking the windows of the coffee shop.

Barry rushed to the window to look outside, Kara following him.   
Outside, a man was standing in the center of the square, the concrete swirling around him like a whirlpool.

“Give me your Flash, Central City!” He shouted, his voice gravelly.

“I gotta go…” Barry murmured.

“Are you kidding?  That guy will kill you, look at him!” Kara replied incredulously, gesturing to the man in the square.

“If I don’t help, who will?” Barry shook his head, speeding out the door, a gust of wind following him, blowing Kara’s hair out of her face.

_ That idiot is going to get himself killed... _ Kara watched as Barry, now dressed in his ridiculous Flash Get-up appeared, she focused on listening to the exchange.

“I’m here!  Leave these people alone!” Barry shouted.

“Yes, you are, little Flash…” The man replied, a manic grin spreading across his face. “Now the real fun can begin!”   
The man raised his fist, the concrete around him copying his movement, forming into a giant fist, he swung at Barry, who dodged to one side, only to find his feet lodged in the concrete below his boots.   
“Once I’m rid of you, this city will be mine for the taking!” The man yelled, reveling in his seeming victory.

Barry looked past the man, at Kara staring through the window, a silent plea for help.

_ Argh, damn him and his stupid hero complex! _ Kara ran to the back of the shop, throwing her apron to the ground and exiting out the back, she took to the air.

_ This better be worth it… _

Kara hovered behind the meta.

“Hey, block-head!” She shouted, causing him to whirl around towards her voice. “The Flash is nothing compared to me!  So, uh, come at me!”

The meta, now dubbed creatively, “block-head” snarled.   
“What can a woman do against me?” He laughed.

“Oh, now you’re in for it!” Kara shot forwards, landing a punch right on his jaw, sending him reeling back into a building; quickly Kara grabbed Barry by his underarms, pulling on him, trying to lodge him free from the concrete. “Come on, let’s get out of here before he gets back up!”

“Agh!  That hurts!” Barry protested.   
“Not sorry this time, trying to save both our lives!” Kara pulled harder, hearing the concrete crack.

“FLASH!” Block-head shouted in anger, coming out from a pile of rubble, his face bloodied.

“Oh, shit!” Kara pulled harder.

Block-head tried to step forward but he stumbled, he snarled, brushing his greasy hair out of his face. “This isn’t over...I’ll be back to challenge you again!” saying this, he sank into the concrete below, vanishing.

Finally, Kara pulled Barry up, his feet surrounded in a block of cement.

“You helped me…” He murmured, looking up at her with his  _ damned  _ beautiful eyes and  _ stupid _ grin.

“Don’t mention it…” She replied, flying higher into the air, still carrying him.

“Oh, I think I will, you are making it a habit to save my life, Kara Danvers.” He grinned wider.

“I could drop you.” Kara rolled her eyes.

  
  


___

 

“So, the Supergirl returns, once again towing an injured Flash!” Cisco wasted no time saying, as soon as Barry was seated on the examination table. “Are you our personal Barry Ambulance?”

“I was just in the area when this idiot got himself almost killed.” Kara scoffed. “I couldn’t just stand by and watch.” Kara furrowed her eyebrows, shooting Cisco a glare. “Stop calling me that, I have a name.”

“Alright, touchy…” He backed off, going to stand by Caitlin who rolled her eyes.

“Barry, I’m a doctor, not a sculptor, I don’t know how to get this stuff off of you.” Caitlin sighed, shrugging.

“So I’m just stuck with...Block feet?” He asked, staring forlornly down at his feet, still encased in concrete.

“I could try to zap them off of you, I mean like, it might vaporize your feet but…” Cisco said, putting his hand on his chin, staring at the blocks.

“Woah!  No one’s vaporizing anyone’s feet, especially mine, I need those!” Barry protested.

Kara rolled her eyes.

_ I have to do everything around here… _

She walked over to Barry and slammed her fists against the blocks, breaking them cleanly in half;   
“You could have done that this entire time?!” Barry stared at her in shock.

“Yeah,” Kara shrugged, smirking. “Maybe I just wanted to watch you struggle for a bit.”

_ I should get out of here before whats-her-name fires me… _

“Listen, this has been fun, really it has, but I really should get going,” She began.

“Kara, please, hear me out, we just want to help you-” Barry stood up.

“Barry,” Kara chuckled. “Relax, I’ll come back, alright? I just, have to go explain to my boss why I ditched in the middle of the day…”

“Oh!  Right, you do that!”

Kara walked once again to the elevator, thoughts rushing around her head.

_ What was I thinking?  God, I’m such an idiot, why can’t I say no to him? _

 

___

 

“Dude, that chemistry is gonna give me chemical burns,” Cisco spoke, after a long silence, accentuating the last two words. “You  _ gotta  _ ask her out.”

“Pssh, no way, that wasn’t chemis-” Barry began to protest.   
“I dunno Barry, that looked like chemistry to me.” Caitlin teased, touching Barry’s shoulder.

_ Was it?  No, no, I don’t even know her!  _

“If she’s gonna be part of this team, I want to design her costume, I’m thinking...Red and blue?  I mean, she practically oozes ‘I grew up in the country’ vibes, don’t you think?” Cisco rambled, thankfully changing the subject.    
“Hey, don’t get ahead of yourself, she’s just stopping by, we don’t even know if she’s joining the team.” Barry pointed at Cisco pointedly.

“From where I’m standing, the way she was looking at you?” Cisco laughed. “She might as well as have been holding a neon sign saying ‘I’m head over heels!’”

“Pssh, whatever man..” Barry shrugged, but his face heated up despite himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god i just love their dynamic sm i can't help it...  
> comments are the best way to get me to continue.  
> still looking for a beta reader!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope this chapter's good, lmao

Kara slipped her apron off, her shift  _ finally _ over after what felt like three centuries, first the trainer lady had fretted over her, saying that she thought that she had died in the attack, then after she was cleared for work, the woman (whose name still escaped her) hadn’t left her side, which made Kara tense, she didn’t like to be tense.

_ Whatever...Just glad it’s over... _ Kara pulled her hair out of the ponytail it had been in, enjoying the silence of the break room when she remembered.  _ Shit...Still, have to go to STAR Labs…Maybe flying there will calm my nerves. _

Without thinking, Kara slammed her locker angrily, the metal warping.  Kara turned on her heel and walked/stomped out the back door, angry with herself.

_Why did I say yes anyway?_ She looked around to see if anyone was watching before pushing off the ground into the relatively cool night air. _Oh right..._ She remembered Barry’s stupid cute pleading eyes. _That’s why._

Kara flipped onto her back in the air, looking up at the stars as she drifted absently.

_ I could not show up... _ Kara cursed.  _ But he knows I work at Jitters, so he’ll just show up tomorrow and ask why I wasn’t there. _

She looked down, now above STAR Labs.

_ Can’t put it off anymore I guess... _

____

 

Kara nervously knocked on the concrete wall next to what she guessed was the main area of the labs, looking inside she saw the Caitlin, Cisco, and Barry all standing in a circle talking, and when she knocked they all turned around.

_ Why do I get the feeling they were talking about me? _

“Uh, hey guys…” She said, instinctively, she pulled her arms around herself, making herself look smaller under their gazes.

“Hey, Kara,” Barry said, walking over. “We want to tell you something, but we want you to sit down first.”

“What?” Kara looked up at him, curious. “Why would I need to sit down?”

“Well,” Caitlin broke the uncomfortable silence. “When I scanned you the other day, we found no dark matter in your system, but we did find something,” Caitlin pursed her lips. “Odd…”

“What kind of odd?” Kara raised her eyebrows, looking between the three.

“Well, we don’t think that you are…” Barry made a face. “Human..”

Kara couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?  Come on, look at me, I’m human!” Doubt started to set in in her mind.

_ Well, most people can’t fly...Or lift a car… _ She looked between the three people, their faces deadly serious. 

“So what, I’m an...An alien?” Kara sat down roughly in the chair behind her. “What does that mean?”

_ You idiot... _ A part of her mind whispered.  _ You always knew...Come on, don’t lie to yourself. _

“It means, I want to do some more testing on you...If that’s alright.” Caitlin put her hand on Kara’s arm, Kara recoiled instinctively.

_ No!  No tests, no needles...Not again. _

“No, no needles.” Kara shivered, hugging herself. “I-I don’t like needles.”

 

“Alright then, why don’t we go to the speed lab and just...See what you can do?” Barry crouched next to her and took her hand in his, it was strangely comforting. “That way, we don’t have to use any needles.”

“Okay…” Kara looked down at her hand in Barry’s, feeling a warmth she hadn’t felt since…She couldn’t remember.

 

The speed lab was definitely made for the Flash, and not ‘Supergirl’ as she had been so dubbed.

“Am I just supposed to lift things all night?” She asked. The novelty of lifting things was starting to wear off and she was itching to do something else.

“Well, we want to know if you have a limit, and more importantly, what that limit  _ is.” _ Caitlin tapped something on her tablet, causing the small car Kara was holding above her head to lift back into the ceiling on a chain. “Obviously you can lift a car, which is very impressive…”

“So you’re like, super strong, we got that, but with this amount of radiation you should be able to do more than just lift a car and fly.” Cisco chuckled. “Not that that’s not impressive of course.” He added quickly, seeing Kara’s glare.

“Well,” Kara crossed her arms over her chest. “I can hear things, like really well, like I can hear that someone in the parking lot next door is having a fight with their girlfriend on the phone.”   
“Woah!” Cisco grinned, making a note. “Super hearing!  What about super sight or like, super smelling?”

Kara wrinkled her nose. “I think all my senses are heightened, trust me, being in middle school was especially terrible.” Kara shuddered, remembering the horrible smell the boy’s locker room emitted, even from across campus.

“What about sight?” Caitlin quickly asked, clearly also disgusted by the subject.

“Well,” Kara thought for a moment. “I can kinda see through things?  Like, not all the time obviously, just when I focus.”

“Huh….” Cisco ‘covertly’ dropped his tablet over his crouch. “Lovely…”

“Yes, well, uh, Barry!” Caitlin crossed her arms over her chest, looking up at Barry, who had been speeding around the large enclosed area around the edge of the room.

“Yeah?  What’s up?” He skidded to a halt in front of them.

“Why don’t we test how fast you can run,” Caitlin pointed to the track. “Kara?  Race Barry.”

Kara laughed.   
“Oh, are you ready to lose?” Barry chuckled. “Because you are going to lose.”

“Oh, am I now?” Kara challenged, following him up to the track.

“Yes, you are.” Barry crouched down. “What do you say...ten laps?  I’ll even let you get a head start.”

“Whatever you say...Flash.” She teased.

Kara took off, her feet pounding the ground, the wind rushing through her loose hair.  She felt amazing. Behind her, Barry tried to keep up, to no avail, she was too fast, even for the infamous Flash.

She skidded to a halt at the finish line, holding out her hand for Barry to shake, a few seconds later Barry stopped in front of her, shaking her hand.   
“Wow.” He panted. “You’re pretty fast.”

“Why thank you, Barry.” She bowed slightly. “For a guy named The Flash, you’re  _ pretty _ slow.”

“Barry!” Caitlin shouted from across the room. “Block-Head is back.” She pointed to a screen, where a video of the concrete meta from before was playing, he stood in a subway station.

“Can you hear me Flash?” He growled. “Come find me...Bring the woman with you or all these civilians.” He stepped to the side, revealing at least twenty people, all up to their necks in concrete. “They  _ will  _ die…You have an hour.”

The screen shut off, leaving the five of them in silence.

“That guy…” Kara put her hand over her mouth.    
“He’s a maniac…” Barry finished. “We have to go.”   
“What?  We?” Kara scoffed. “I’m not going.”   
“He will kill those people if we don’t go, Kara, he wants us both!” Barry gestured to the screen. “This is your chance to save those people, don’t you want to make a difference?!”

“I’m not ‘Supergirl’!” She yelled, silencing him. “I might have these powers but, Barry you don’t understand who I am, what I have been through.  I’m not a hero like you are, if I helped, I’d just...Mess things up again.” She hugged herself, sitting down on a nearby chair. “When I was...Younger, I thought I could help people with what I can do, but when I tried, I just ended up ruining everything.”   
Barry looked taken aback before his features softened, he crouched next to her and embraced her in a warm hug, Kara tensed up.

“You don’t have to tell us what happened…” He said after a moment. “But you’re not alone anymore, we can help you, but right now?  I need your help, Kara, you don’t have to help again, just this once, then if you never want to see us...me...ever again, I’ll understand.”   
Kara relaxed into his embrace, feeling the beginning of tears in her eyes she quickly pushed him away and wiped her eyes.   
“Okay, fine...One time.” She replied.    
“You aren’t planning on wearing that, are you?” Cisco asked, breaking the moment.   
Kara clenched her jaw, looking down at what she was wearing, a STAR labs sweatshirt and sweatpants.   
“I see your point, but can’t I just take off the sweatshirt?” She looked up at him quizzically.

“Uh, not unless you want to broadcast who you are to the entirety of Central City you don’t!  But I got just the thing.” Cisco grinned and ran out the door, beckoning for them to follow.

“Should I be scared?” She asked Barry who shrugged, she looked at Caitlin for help, but she also shrugged.

_ Great, even the nerds are clueless. _

Kara, Barry, and Caitlin followed Cisco to the cortex where he wheeled out something covered in a sheet. 

“I present to you!  The Cisco Ramon approved Supergirl suit!” Cisco pulled off the sheet, revealing a mannequin dressed in a blue bodysuit with a thin red stripe making a triangle across the chest and torso, a red jacket with protective shoulder pads lay across the shoulders and enveloping the arms down to the hands, where a matching set of deep blue fingerless gloves lay, the tail of the coat went down to the shins.

“Wow…” Kara breathed, reaching up at touching it.

“It’s made of the same stuff as Barry’s suit, so it should hold up.” Cisco grinned.

 

Kara examined the suit closer. “It has a hood?”   
“Yeah, I figured that blonde hair of yours is  _ pretty  _ recognizable, so I added a hood, oh and this!” Cisco reached past Kara and fished a mask out of a pocket in the coat.“A mask!  You’re gonna need one, I mean faces like yours, they are...Wow, not a dime a dozen.” Cisco cleared his throat. “I mean uh, it’ll hide your identity.”

“It’ll do.” Kara crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling.

_ He made this for me...Even though I’d only known him for, what, a day?  I don’t know whether to be thankful or creeped out... _

“Come on, Kara, we got a bad guy to catch,” Barry said. 

She looked up the suit, something...A new feeling bubbling to the surface within her.

_ Hope... _ She thought.  _ Maybe this time will be different. _

  
  


“How’s the suit feel?” Kara heard Barry’s voice in her ear, thanks to the comms system Cisco put in the hood. Currently, Barry was running below her while she flew over him, 

“I gotta admit, the coat  _ kinda  _ feels like a cape, but I’m digging it!” She replied.

“Cisco, did you manage to triangulate a location from that video?” Barry asked.

“You know, you hero types have it real easy, hacking isn’t just pressing three keys and boom you’re done,” Cisco said back.

“Cisco…” Kara warned.

“Fine…” He muttered. “The video came from the station on 87th.”   
“See?  That wasn’t so hard.” She nodded.   
Kara followed Barry down the winding streets, flying a few feet above him.

“So what’s the plan?” She asked.

“Plan?  Uh...Go in?” Barry sounded unsure, she didn’t like unsure.   
“Aren’t you supposed to be a superhero?” She retorted. “Come up with something, and fast.”

Kara narrowed her eyes and tried to see through the streets to the subway station to no avail, she couldn’t focus.

“Agh, damn, I can’t see through the street.” She grumbled, mostly to herself.

“What’s wrong?” Barry asked. 

“Nothing, I just...Can’t focus.” 

_ Because of you... _ She thought.

“We’re here!” Barry skidded to a halt in front of the subway station, Kara landed next to him.

“Come up with a plan yet?” She asked, looking to him for support.

“Let’s just go in and surrender, get the civilians out.” He rubbed the back of his head.   
“Then what, genius?” She rolled her eyes under her mask. “Get drowned in concrete?  We have to get him somewhere he can’t use his powers, or neutralize them somehow.”

“I-I didn’t even think about that.” 

“Of course you didn’t,” Kara scoffed. “You’re so worried about the civilians, you don’t even think about being a little selfish and thinking of yourself for once.” 

Barry opened his mouth to retort but Kara shushed him with a swoop of her coat.   
“What are we waiting for, Flash?  Let’s get in there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the supergirl suit design was inspired by plastic-pipes on tumblr and deviantart  
> https://www.deviantart.com/plastic-pipes/art/Supergirl-Sketchdump-649885126  
> i wanted to get this part out, so i can get to the main battle with block-head! will we see more of kara's powers??? idk, i aint wrote it yet


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who doesn't know how to write action? this guy!!

“Flash...Woman...You’ve arrived...Now the real fun can begin.” Block-Head’s voice echoed through the chamber as they descended the stairs. Suddenly, he rose out the stairs in front of them, grinning a lopsided manic grin, he thrust his hands forward, sending two globs of concrete at them to trap them. Kara thought quickly and ducked, grabbing Barry by the shoulder and forcing him to duck as well.

“Release the civilians!  We’re here! You don’t have to hurt anybody.” Barry shouted, standing up. Kara rolled her eyes.

_ So self-righteous…  _

“The civilians may go…” Block-Head sneered, looking behind him, he waved his hands, freeing the people trapped, he stepped to one side, letting them run up the stairs, past the three as they stood in a stalemate.

_ If glares could kill... _ Kara glanced between Barry and Block-Head, both glaring at the other with a steely gaze. 

The last civilian finally exited, leaving them alone.

Block-head wasted no time in collapsing the tunnel leading to the exit, effectively trapping them all.

Kara looked behind her for a split second, a split second too long, Block-Head lunged forward and pinned her against the tiled wall.

“Stop!” Barry held up his hand.  “You don’t have to hurt her, it’s me you want, isn’t it?”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Flash…” Block-Head spat, Kara recoiled at the smell of his breath. “Big boss says to take you both in…” He leaned closer into Kara’s neck, breathing in her scent. “Never said I couldn’t play a little bit…”

“Creep!” Kara stomped on his foot and pushed him back into the main chamber, right into a wall.

Block-Head stood up from the rubble, dusting off his shoulder.   
“Oh, I like you…” He swept his greasy hair out of his eyes and stepped forward, only to find Barry’s fist driving into his face, felling him to the ground.

_ That’s gotta hurt… _

“Enough!” Barry shouted. “It’s two against one! Give up!”   
“Is it, Flash?” Block-Head spat out some blood. “Or is it...Three to two?” He rose his hands and around them, ten concrete duplicates appeared. “Or hell, who’s counting?” 

“Hey, Barry, Kara!” Cisco’s voice over the comm system. “Facial recognition got a hit on this ‘Block-Head’ guy, his name’s David Willis.” Cisco paused. “Are we  _ really  _ going with Block-Head?  I mean, give me ten minutes I can come up with something better…”

“Ugh!” Kara punched her way through a concrete duplicate. “You are  _ not  _ helping!”

“That’s great!” Barry dodged an attack. “Just not really helpful right now!”

Kara pressed her back against Barry’s, they were now surrounded on all sides by concrete duplicates.

“I have a feeling this could go on all night, do you have a plan yet?” Kara looked over her shoulder at Barry.

“Uh...Drawing a blank here…” Barry super-speed punched a duplicate that was coming close. “Got any ideas, guys?”

“You need to take out Willis,” Caitlin spoke matter-of-factly. “If he’s down, all the duplicates will crumble…” She hesitated. “Hopefully.”

_ We’re going to be overrun soon... _ Kara grit her teeth, they were getting down to the wire and she wasn’t keen on finding out if she could actually bleed.  _ God, I hope this works. _

“Hey Flash!” She tried to disguise the nervousness in her voice, but she didn’t think it worked very well, her voice was shaking. “Close your eyes and duck!”

Thankfully, Barry did was he was told, so she could focus on doing the thing that would hopefully save both their asses.  Kara narrowed her eyes and a prick of heat told her whatever she was doing, it was working; highly concentrated beams of pure heat shot out of her eyes, so hot it melted the concrete duplicates around them, seeing that her job was done, she shut her eyes and fell to one knee.

“Kara...What?” Barry looked around confused before looking down at her, he refocused quickly, talking to Cisco and Caitlin on comms. “Willis got away, but we’re safe, and so are the civilians.”

“We’ll get him another day, Barry,” Caitlin spoke. “Come back to STAR Labs.”

Barry put a hand between Kara’s shoulder blades. “Hey, come on.” His voice was gentle. “Let’s go.”

Kara stood up, her eyes still shut, she forced one eye open and when no laser came out she sighed in relief.

_ Maybe I’m finally gaining some much-needed control... _ She scoffed inwardly.  _ That’s what she was always telling me I needed. _

“Yeah, let’s go…” She hugged herself tightly.

  
  
  


____

  
  


“Well, we’ve got facial recognition working to find Willis.” Cisco pointed to the screens as Kara and Barry stepped back into the cortex. “But nothing has picked him up yet, and we can’t track concrete.”

Kara leaned against the wall. “He said something about a big boss, any idea who that could be…?  Like at all?” Kara looked between them, their faces were blank. “Great, three nerds in a room and they don’t even have a clue…”

“Listen, Kara, we’ll catch this guy, we always do.” Barry’s attempt to comfort her fell flat as she shot him a glare. “Look, guys, we gotta find a way to neutralize his powers, Kara, what did you do back there?  That seemed to work.”

“I uh…” Kara hesitated.  _ Guess the cat can’t be more out of the bag than it already is… _ “I used my uh, heat vision.” She winced.

“Your...Heat vision, right…” Cisco tilted his head and put his chin in his hand. “What exactly is your...Heat vision, Kara?”

“It’s like, laser eyes kind of?” Kara shrugged.

“Laser eyes?! Girl, that is mad cool!” Cisco pumped his fist in the air, the gears clearly whirring away in his head of what that entailed.

“Why didn’t you tell us before?” Barry’s voice sounded hurt.

“It’s not exactly something I can just say like ‘hey guys!  I also have lethal laser eyes that can melt shit!” Kara threw her hands in the air angrily before deflating. “I know I probably should have told you guys but…”  _ I didn’t want you to run more tests.  _ “I was just scared, all right?”

Barry smiled at her, his puppy-dog eyes gazing at her.

_ Ugh, damn him. _

“You don’t have to be scared with us, Kara, we’re your friends, right guys?” He nodded to Cisco and Caitlin, who nodded as well.

“Thanks…” Kara looked away. “Listen, I have...uh, work in the morning...Call me if you find him.”

She started for the door.

“Wait, does that mean you’re helping us?” Barry asked tentatively, Kara paused.

_ What does it mean? _

“It means I’m thinking about it…” She replied simply before slipping out the door.

 

____

 

For the second time in a span of a few days, Kara collapsed onto her bed, letting her eyes slip shut she thought about the events of the day.

_ Ugh. No more thinking, my head hurts… _ She rolled over onto one side and looked out the window she had just come through, she groaned again and rolled onto her back, settling for staring at the ceiling fan above her.   _ Rao...What is wrong with me? _

Kara jolted suddenly, sitting up straight.

_ Rao?  _ She grasped at straws in her brain, trying desperately to remember what she had just unwittingly uncovered.  _ Rao...Rao is…. _ The memory faded just as fast as it had come, leaving her behind, sad and feeling like something, no  _ everything _ was missing.  She put her head in her hands and looked down at her boots.

_ Wait, boots? _ She looked at her arms, realizing something.  _ Shit, I’m still wearing the fucking super-suit. _

She fell backward and stared at the ceiling again, letting her eyes close she fell asleep.

 

Kara begrudgingly awoke when she heard her phone ringing on her nightstand where she put it the previous night, and opening one eye she saw that the sun hadn’t even started to rise yet, she wondered who the  _ hell  _ had the gall to call her at...She picked up her phone, squinting from the brightness, three o’clock in the morning, she squinted at the missed call notification.

_ Unknown number…? Ugh, probably some spam call center. _

She put the phone down and lay her head back down onto the pillow, only to hear it ringing again, the sound penetrating her ears.

_ Stupid super hearing... _ She half-thought half mumbled.  _ Just gonna ignore it… _

The ringing stopped, only to start up again seconds later, this process repeated itself a couple of times before she sat up at glared at it, contemplating whether or not to melt it.

Angrily, Kara picked up the phone and answered it.

“I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you better have a god damn good reason for calling me!” She shouted into the receiver.

“Kara, it’s Caitlin, Willis has got Barry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a cliffhanger again??? wow, i really am Like that...What's gonna happen next????  
> (idk)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was actually a lot longer but i decided to put the other part of it into the next chapter, so pls enjoy this chapter

Barry sat down on the chair and leaned back, puffing out a sigh as he watched Kara leave.  
Wish she would stay. He thought pensively. I don’t know how to help her...if she would just tell me what was going on...  
“We can’t just let Willis run loose, he’s dangerous,” Barry scratched the back of his head nervously. “Cisco, are you sure you can’t track him somehow?”  
“There are like, a million miles of concrete in Central City.” Cisco threw his hands up in the air. “And like this guy’s a ghost, he’s not anywhere on surveillance.”  
“What about the boss, can we try and figure out who he is?” Barry stood up and crossed his arms.  
“Barry,” Caitlin scolded. “I think it’s time you hung up the suit for the night, we aren’t gonna get anywhere else.”  
“Maybe you’re right…” Barry sighed, looking down at Caitlin’s well-meaning face, he hesitated slightly. “You guys go, I’ll stay here for a bit, just in case…”  
Caitlin looked him over suspiciously, Barry shifted under her gaze nervously.  
“Sit.” She demanded, Barry obliged. Caitlin grabbed him by the chin and made him look side to side, taking in his uncharacteristic gaunt cheeks and eye bags. “You’re still fighting with Iris, aren’t you?” She diagnosed, matter-of-factly.  
She knows. Barry leaned back, expecting a lecture, which he promptly got.  
“Honestly, Barry, what is the big deal about her putting her name on her blog? I mean, you told her to.” Caitlin crossed her arms. “You two are adults, honestly…”  
“Her putting her name on it means that these meta-humans will go after her!” He said, exasperatedly.   
“No, it means she’s taking your advice, Barry, you’re the one who told her that ‘Oh, you’re not serious about it until you put your name on it.’” Caitlin glared at him icily.  
“Cisco, help me out here!” Barry looked at his best friend for help.  
“Nope, not getting involved, I got a whole season of Clone Wars waiting for me at home.” He waved as he exited. “Peace!”  
Caitlin bit her lip and looked at the ceiling. “Just...Talk to her, Barry.” She picked up her purse and jacket. “And get some sleep, please.”  
Caitlin left, leaving Barry sitting alone in the cortex. Frustrated, he turned in the chair and leaned against the desk, one hand in his hair.  
Maybe she’s right...He thought. He pressed his forehead down onto the cold surface of the desk, enjoying the feeling. I should go home… His eyes slid shut.

Barry awoke suddenly as an alert sounded on the monitor before him.  
“The word around here is that The Flash hangs around here!” Willis’ voice comes from the speakers. “Is he gonna come out here and face me like a man?!”  
Willis was standing just outside, in clear view of one the many security cameras, shouting at the top of his lungs, taunting him as he paced back and forth.  
“I’ve got your woman, Flash!” He shouted. “She’s awful pretty, be a shame if something happened to her, wouldn’t it?!”  
He’s got Kara…! Barry snapped up and sped outside, now wearing his Flash costume.   
“Let her go, Willis!” He shouted.  
“Gullible little hero…” Willis tsked, a grin spreading across his face.  
Gullible?   
“Amazing what a little white lie can do.” He liquified the ground under Barry’s feet, trapping Barry again.  
Barry opened his mouth to shout but noticing this, Willis shot a glob of concrete at his face that covered Barry’s mouth and nose.   
“Hush now...:” Willis mockingly shushed, holding a grubby finger to his mouth.  
Barry couldn’t breathe, he felt himself losing consciousness, the edges of his vision darkening, he tried to shout out in protest, but only a mumble made it past his concrete gag.  
“Good night, Flash…” Willis caught Barry as he passed out. 

___

Kara looked over the city again from above, she had been up for hours doing fly-overs of the city trying to find any sign of where Willis had taken Barry to no avail.  
“Anything?” Caitlin’s worried voice came on over the comms.  
“Nothing, it’s like they vanished.” Kara grit her teeth. “I can’t find anything.”  
“We’ll find him.” Caitlin didn’t sound so sure.  
Cold comforts, Caitlin. She thought.  
“I have work in like, five minutes.” Kara rubbed her forehead. “Call me if anything happens.”  
All these powers and I still feel useless.   
Kara landed on a rooftop nearby to Jitters and took off the hood to her suit, relishing in the feeling of the rising sun on her skin.  
Can’t exactly show up to work in this...She looked down at herself. Plus it probably really smells.  
Kara looked around the street.  
Wonder if they’d believe I came from a science-fiction convention if I walked into a clothing store. Kara frowned. Apparently, I’m an alien so not that far off I guess.  
Kara bit her lip, weighing her options.  
Option one, go back to my apartment and get clothes...Option two, break the law and steal, which I haven’t done since...Then. Kara looked at the time on her phone, she was due to be at work like, now. Commit a felony it is.

All day at work, Kara was tired, her late-night/early morning search for Barry had taken more of a toll than she thought it would.  
“Kara?” Kara snapped out of her daze and looked down at her trainer. “Earth to Kara? Are you okay?”  
“I’m fine.” Kara faked a smile.   
God, what is her name…?  
“Good,” Her trainer said matter-of-factly.  
I know it starts with...An M? No, an I…Realization dawned on Kara.  
“Iris!”  
“Yeah?” The woman turned around. “Did you need something?”  
“Uh, no, sorry.” Kara shrunk down, suddenly very interested in the floor.  
“Actually, I have a question for you,” Iris said, tucking the rag she was using to clean the counter in her apron, she leaned back to look up at Kara. “Do you know Barry?”  
What? Does she know? No, she can’t know, can she?  
“Uh, no, sorry,” Kara said quickly.  
Too quickly.  
“I saw you guys talking yesterday before the attack.” Iris sounded suspicious.  
“He was just...Ordering coffee!” Kara busied herself with the coffee machine.  
“Oh really?” Iris raised an eyebrow. “Because to me it kind of looked like you two were flirting.”   
“Pssh, us? No, never, we weren’t…” Kara stumbled over her words, an annoying habit that she had when she was nervous, Iris stopped her.  
“Look, I just wanted to say that if you were flirting, Barry is a really good guy, he’s kind of like my brother so I know.” Iris winked before turning away and greeting a customer.  
What was that about? Kara’s phone rang, stopping her from thinking further on the matter, it was Caitlin, quickly Kara ducked into a corner to answer it.  
“Any news?” She whispered.  
“Willis went live with another video, Cisco is triangulating the source right now,” Caitlin replied. “Could really use super some help.”  
Shit.  
“Uh yeah, I’ll be there, yep.” Kara hung up before Caitlin could reply. “Hey uh, Iris? Can I take my break?”   
“Yeah sure, go ahead.” Iris smiled. “I need you for the afternoon rush though.”  
“Right…” Kara said.  
Might be dead by then…

Kara ran out into the alleyway, slipping on her coat over her super-suit and pulling on the hood, her mask already adorned.  
“Talk to me guys, give me any good news.” She took off into the sky, talking into the comms.  
“The video’s broadcast location is coming from a warehouse by the docks,” Cisco said. “Why is it always an abandoned warehouse?”   
Kara chose to ignore him as she sped through the sky towards the warehouse.  
Oh Barry, please be alive…  
She burst through the roof, landing on the floor of the warehouse.  
“That was excessive, you could have just used the front door, woman,” Wilis said, he was sitting on a chair examining his grubby fingernails, he feigned a gasp. “You’ve found me!”  
“Where’s the Flash?” She growled.  
“Oh, she used her angry voice!” Willis laughed. “I’m so scared, I’m shaking in my boots.”  
“If you hurt him, I’ll…” Kara stepped forward towards him.  
“You’ll what? Kill me? You hero types could never, with all your high and mighty morals.” He spat.  
Angrily, Kara flew forward and pinned Willis against the wall, her forearm pressed against his throat. “Tell me where the Flash is!”  
“What fun you’ve turned out to be…” He laughed again, gurgling on his spittle, Kara tightened her grip, glaring at him.  
“Tell me!”   
“He’s right over there, woman…” Willis pointed to Barry sitting tied, unmasked and unconscious on a chair nearby.  
Kara dropped Willis, leaving him sputtering on the ground and ran over to Barry.  
“Barry,” She whispered, gently smacking his face. “Come on, wake up!”  
Come on, you’ve gotta be alive...  
“He’s not gonna wake up! At least not anytime soon!” Willis sputtered.  
Kara clenched her fist.  
“Guess I’ll have to kick your ass myself then.” She cracked her neck.   
“You can tr-!” Willis’ remark was cut off by Kara socking him cleanly in the jaw, knocking him to the ground again.  
Willis cracked his jaw back into place and chuckled, he melted into the concrete floor below him.  
Dammit, where are you?  
Willis resurfaced behind Kara and punched her in the back, sending her spiraling into the air.  
Kara turned and looked at him, he had armored himself in a suit of concrete armor, he came at her surprisingly fast with both hands but Kara thought fast and caught his hands.  
They were locked in a battle of strength now, and despite her supposed super strength, Kara was loosing; Willis pushed on her hands, the sheer force cracking the floor below Kara’s feet.  
Kara thought quickly and let go, dodging out of the way of his falling body.  
“Tsk, all that concrete’s gotta be really heavy, huh?” She asked, looking down at him she kicked him across the room, sending him skittering through the front wall and into the water past it. “Shit.”  
Barry probably wouldn’t like it if he died, even if he is a terrible person. Kara rolled her eyes.  
She took off after him, diving into the water and grabbing him by the back of his armor, she pulled him out, he was out cold.  
So with Flash and Block-Head in her arms, she started the unsteady flight back to STAR Labs.

___

“I’d say this was a good first mission for Supergirl, even though Barry is out cold.” Cisco quipped.  
“He’ll be fine, Willis used some kind of tranquilizer,” Caitlin said, examining Barry as he slept. “But his metabolism is super quick, so he’ll be awake any-” Barry snapped up, gasping for breath. “Minute.”  
“What? What happened?” He looked around confused. “Where’s Willis?”  
“I got him,” Kara smiled. “he’s in your little jail now.”  
“Kara?” Barry looked at her, noticing her for the first time. “You saved my life?”  
“It’s what friends do right?” Kara avoided meeting his eyes, her face suddenly hot. “And you guys are my friends, right?”  
Barry answered her with a warm hug, and this time Kara didn’t stiffen, she hugged right back, and when Caitlin and Cisco put their arms around her shoulders that she could feel shaking with soft tears, she felt at home.  
Barry gently pulled out of the hug and wiped her cheeks with his thumb.  
“Hey, it’s okay, I’m okay.” He murmured.  
“It’s not just that.” Kara sniffled. “It’s just...I’ve been alone since I was thirteen.”  
“What about before then?” Caitlin asked.  
“I don’t remember,” Kara confessed. “I sometimes get little flickers, like sometimes I’ll just be thinking about something and I’ll think about something but as soon as it comes, it goes. I grew up in the foster system, I never knew my parents or where I came from...”  
“My mom died when I was eleven.” Barry took her hand in his. “My dad was wrongly convicted of her murder and he’s in prison...I know it’s not the same but, I know how it feels to be an orphan.”  
Kara looked up at him, tears still in her eyes.  
“Thank you.” She wiped her eyes and stood up. “I need to get back to work.”   
Compose yourself, Kara...She hugged herself and avoided their pitying gazes.  
“I’ll go with you,” Barry smiled brightly. “I could use some caffeine.”  
“Alright…” Kara said softly, letting her guard down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on the next chapter, we get some stuff that's gonna set up stuff for later


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really tryin to like, incorporate more things in this fic but it's hard

The walk over to Jitters was mostly silent, Caitlin had advised Barry not to use his powers while he was recovering and Kara couldn’t carry him because her arms were sore from carrying him and Willis back to STAR Labs.

“I know I already thanked you for, you know, saving my life and everything but you know, I really appreciate it.” Barry broke the silence.

“Are you gonna be like this forever?” Kara teased. “Do you owe me a life debt now?”

“I am your humble servant, Kara Danvers.” Barry mock bowed.

“All this power, you know, it might go to my head.” Kara looked up at him and smiled.

“I don’t think it could ever go to your head, Kara.” 

“Why not?”   
“I don’t know.” Barry shrugged. “You’re a good person, Kara.”

Kara blushed and looked at her feet.

“We’re here,” Barry said next to her, he almost sounded disappointed. 

“Yep.” Kara readied herself for the inevitable firing, she had missed the afternoon rush that she promised Iris she would be back for.  She pushed open the doors.

“Kara!” Iris’ eyes locked onto her. “You missed the afternoon rush.”

“Yeah, listen I’m really sorry, I just...Lost track of time?” Kara winced.

_ That’s the worst excuse on the planet… _

“Well-” Iris started.

“Sorry, Iris, Kara and I were just at this...Sushi restaurant and we were just having...So much fun!” Barry interjected.

“Wha…” Kara caught on. “Oh, oh!  Yes, we were just having so much fun at that...Sushi place!” Kara faked a smile.

“Oh, Barry, I didn’t know you were...That you two were…” Iris’ mouth opened and closed like a fish. “Um, Kara, why don’t you go clean up the tables?”

“Right!” Kara felt a rush of relief, she turned and mouthed a thank you to Barry and took off, leaving Barry and Iris alone. 

  
  


Barry looked at Iris who cracked a grin and punched his arm.

“Ow!” He held his arm. “What was that for?”

“You didn’t tell me!” Iris punched his arm again.

“Well, we weren’t exactly on speaking terms, Iris.” He rubbed his arm and leaned away from her. “Plus, there’s nothing to tell, she’s just my friend.”

“Sure, Barry.” Iris rolled her eyes. 

There was a pause when they both remembered they were supposed to be fighting.

_ I should say something...We’re both adults, we can talk about it. _ Barry thought.

“Listen, Iris, I’m sorry.” Barry started. “I shouldn’t have said those things about your blog…”

“I know you’re sorry Barry,” Iris avoided his gaze. “I just want you to know, I did this whole blog thing for you, you were the one always telling me of the impossible and the second I start to believe in it, it seems you don’t.  Tell me why.”

“I…” Barry hesitated. “I just, you know, I’ve been trying to put this stuff with my mom in the past and it finally felt like, I got past it and now with everything happening, it feels like all this stuff is being dredged up again and..” Barry looked up at the ceiling to prevent tears from falling. “I don’t know, I just think that writing about this stuff is dangerous.”

“Barry,” Iris bit her lip, considering what she would say. “I can defend myself, you and Dad and Eddy don’t need to defend me.”

“I know that Iris, I…”

_ I just love you.  _ He thought.

Iris put his coffee order down on the counter in front of him. “You should go.” She said coldly.

“Yeah…” Barry felt a pang of sadness hit him like a truck. 

Barry headed for the door but stopped when Kara caught his arm.

“Hey, are you okay?” Her voice sounded concerned. 

“Yeah,” Barry rubbed the back of his neck. “How much of that did you hear?”

“Just about all of it…” Kara admitted. “Super hearing…”

“It’s okay, look do you want to come to STAR Labs after your shift is up?” Barry asked. 

“That’d be nice.” Kara smiled and Barry caught himself grinning right back. 

“Does this mean I can count on my sidekick Supergirl?” He whispered.

“As long as you  _ never  _ call me your sidekick again,” Kara smacked his arm gently. “Plus if anything, you’re my sidekick.”

 

Kara was putting her stuff away at the end of her shift when she finally caught Iris staring at her.

“Do you need something?” She snapped finally. “You’ve been staring at me ever since I got back.”

“What?” Iris laughed nervously. “Pssh, no I haven’t.”

“Yes, you have,” Kara rolled her eyes. “Are you jealous of Barry and me?  We’re just friends, Iris…”

“I’m not jealous…” Iris paused. “I’m just, concerned for him, he’s like my brother…And he’s never had a serious girlfriend before.”

_ She’s definitely jealous… _

“I’ll see you later, Iris.” Kara closed her locker door and left the woman alone in the break room. 

Stepping out into the night air, Kara looked around her to make sure no one was looking and kicked off into the sky, letting her thoughts roam and she flew towards STAR Labs.

_ I mean, it’s not like Barry and I are dating or anything…I mean, is this a date? _ Kara shook her head.  _ It’s not, it’s just...two superpowered colleagues...Hanging out? _

Kara landed at the doors and walked in, taking the now familiar route to the elevator.

_ I mean, it’s not like I like him, I mean I like him just fine as a friend I guess. _

Kara pressed the button on the elevator.

_ He is cute...And sweet and surprisingly caring… _

The doors opened and Kara strode down the hallway, coming to a stop at the cortex where she looked in and saw Barry sitting shirtless on an examining bed in the center of the cortex while Caitlin fretted about him.

“Heeey, Kara.” Barry winced and cried out in pain as Caitlin pulled something out of his side. 

“Hey….Barry.” Kara forced herself to look at his face. “Can I ask...Why...You are…” She struggled to form words. “Like that?”

“Barry says he was attacked by a man with  _ spikes, _ ” Caitlin said. 

“What?” 

“Yeah, the dude was like no meta I have  _ ever _ seen before.” Barry winced as Caitlin pulled another spike from his side.

“Maybe he wasn’t a meta at all.” Cisco walked in, tapping away at his tablet. “I scanned the spike after I cleaned it, and it’s got no known compounds from Earth.”

“I mean, you guys think I’m an alien, that’s not impossible.” Kara shrugged.

“I wish Dr. Wells were here, he would be excited, well, as excited as I think he can get.” Caitlin pulled another spike from Barry. “All done, Barry.”

“Finally…” Barry stood up and grabbed a STAR Labs sweatshirt and slipped it on. “God, I hope that guy isn’t planning on robbing any more jewelry stores because  _ wow  _ that hurt.”

“There’s another thing when I was down in the STARchives putting some stuff away, I found something...You gotta see it.”

Cisco beckoned for them to follow and started towards the elevator.

“What’s the Starchives?” Kara asked, reprehensive.

“The Starchives are the place where we put stuff, basically a glorified warehouse that Cisco gave a fancy name,” Caitlin replied as they followed him.

 

Kara stepped off the elevator first, looking around.

“It’s so dusty in here.” She coughed.

“We don’t come down here much.” Cisco apologized, he turned and flipped a light switch, illuminating the space; in the very back behind a few boxes of discarded projects, lay what was clearly an alien craft.

“What is it?” Kara rubbed her forehead, she got the feeling she  _ should  _ know what it is but she couldn’t place it.

“We were hoping you could tell us.” Caitlin shrugged.

“I nearly killed myself running into it...” Cisco started moving the boxes around it, Barry rolled his eyes and super-speed moved the boxes out of the way.

“You could have done that before I picked up the scrap metal box.” Cisco dropped the very heavy box over by where Barry had put the others.  

They now had a clear view of the craft, it was shaped vaguely like a bullet with a glass canopy over what appeared to be the cockpit and there were fins at the back with intricate webbing woven between the edges.

Kara ran her hand along the side, her head throbbing with a headache.

“I feel like I should know this…” Her voice trailed off.

“But…?” Barry asked.

“I don’t.” She replied she hugged herself, shuddering. “It’s like there’s this...Hole in my head. Like someone, doesn’t want me to know where I’m from.”

Caitlin tilted her head. 

“You could have retrograde episodic amnesia of some kind, though I would have to do a brain scan to know more.” She said.

_ I don’t like the way she’s looking at me... _ Kara stepped back, right into Barry who put a hand on her shoulder, which was strangely comforting.

“Kara, I know you don’t like tests but Caitlin promises to stop if you ever get uncomfortable,” Barry said. “Right Caitlin?”

“Right.” Caitlin nodded.

“I mean, can’t something like trigger memories?” Cisco asked, his hand on his chin.

“You just want her to sit in the spaceship, don’t you?” Caitlin chastised.

“Yes!  Is that so wrong?” Cisco threw his hands up.

“I’ll sit in the space ship if it gets you to shut the hell up.” Kara rolled her eyes and floated off the ground, lifted the canopy off the cockpit and sat down in the pod. “Nothing’s happening, I don’t remember anything.”

“Let’s go back to the cortex!” Barry offered his hand out to help her down. “It’s really dusty in here.”

Kara flew out of the pod and landed next to Barry, her headache intensified and she stumbled, grabbing onto him for support.

“Are you okay?” He looked down at her, examining her face with concern. 

“I’m fine…” Kara shook her head. “I think the dust is getting to me, let’s get out of here.”

 

“Remind me again why I have to wear this ridiculous headband?” Kara asked.

“Because we don’t know how your alien cells would react to a normal MRI, so this is what Cisco and I came up with,” Caitlin replied, partly ignoring her as she typed something on her computer. 

Barry was sat next to her on the examination table, gently holding her hand for comfort.

_ It’s very comforting... _ Kara looked up at him.

“How long will this take?” She yawned. “I’m tired.”

“It’ll take at least an hour…” Caitlin typed something, her voice trailing off. “But you can sleep during, it won’t affect the results.”

“Sounds good to me…” She let her eyes slip shut.

_ Kara only had one dream. _

_ The same dream every…. _

_ This is different. _

_ Kara felt the ground shaking under her feet as she ran, someone was holding her hand speaking to her, what was she saying? The figure’s voice warped in and out of English and...something else that felt like she should know. _

_ Kara was scared, she knew that much, the planet was crumbling and it wouldn’t be long before...before what? _

_ The dream flashed to an airport hangar? No, a launch bay...There sat the ship, the very same ship that was sitting in the Starchives. _

_ Two figures were speaking to her in the same language from before, a hand touched her face gently and the launch bay started crumbling around them. _

_ Kara got into the pod and a hole started to form in her heart, something wrong was happening, something very, very bad and she couldn’t stop it. _

Kara started awake, breathing heavily.

_ What the hell was that? _

“Hey, are you okay?” Barry looked down at her, she was leaning on him, her head had clearly just been on his shoulder. “You were talking in your sleep, but like, in a different language.”

“I…” Kara looked around, disoriented. “I was just…”

_ I was just there...on…on...Dammit… _ Kara wracked her brain, reaching for answers that weren’t there...like someone had stolen them and was laughing at her, teasing her.

“Kara?” Barry sounded concerned.

Kara buried her face in his shoulder, resisting the urge to cry.

“I feel like every time I’m close to answers, someone snatches them out from under me.” She murmured.

Kara could feel Barry’s pity coming off of him in waves, he reached up and gently stroked her hair.

“It’s okay...We’ll find out what’s happening with you, I promise.” He said gently.

“Kara, Barry, you should see this,” Cisco said, he was looking over Caitlin’s shoulder at her computer screen.

Kara opened one eye and looked up at the screen mounted on the wall; upon the screen was a scan of her brain.

“I don’t understand, what am I looking at?” She looked to Caitlin for an answer.

“There’s some sort of blockage in your hippocampus, it’s literally blocking you from accessing your memories.” She answered. “It’s sometimes caused by extreme trauma.”

“So how do I get past it?” Kara asked.

“Something could trigger a flashback, maybe?” Caitlin shrugged.

_ Flashback?  Was that a memory? _

“I think I just had one of those…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please gods give me comments


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> blergh, not feelin' this chapter a whole bunch

Barry walked out of Jitters with a grin plastered on his face.

_ She’s joining!  _ Barry grinned wider.  _ I knew she’d come around! _

Barry’s phone rang in his pocket and he scrambled to answer it.

“Barry, aren’t you forgetting something?” Joe’s voice from the other side of the line. 

“Uh, no?” Barry thought for a moment, his mind blank. “I don’t think so, why?”

“‘Cause I’m standing here at a crime scene and you know what is missing?” Joe’s voice became stern. “Be here in five minutes.”

“Bet I can be there in five seconds.” Barry chugged the rest of his coffee and sped towards downtown, he made a quick pit-stop at the station to pick up his CSI kit and then drifted to a stop in front of Joe.

“That was six seconds.” Joe rolled his eyes.

“What we got?” Barry looked around, they were standing in a small run-down diner by the docks that sailors often frequented, a body covered in a sheet lay on the cheap linoleum nearby and strange quills were stuck in the ground around it.

“Well, we got a call late last night about a hedgehog man making a stir here and when the officers got here, the waitress was dead and there were these…” Joe gestured to the quills strewn about with his pen. “Things everywhere.”

Barry crouched down next to the body and uncovered it, revealing the woman had a spike shoved right into her forehead, he grimaced and covered her back up.

“Do you think a metahuman did this?” Joe asked.

“I don’t know…” Barry pulled a quill from the tile and examined it. “I’ll have Cisco run some tests on it at STAR Labs..”

Barry bagged the quill and stood up.

“Have you made it right with Iris yet?” Joe asked.

“Joe…” Barry rubbed his forehead.

“Barry…” 

_ That’s his Dad voice… _

“I tried, but she’s insistent about this whole putting her name on it thing..” Barry shrugged.

“Well, you two better make up soon, there is no way in hell I am sitting through another awkward dinner with you two.” Joe looked back down at his notes.

“I’m gonna get the STAR Labs,” Barry quickly changed the subject. “I’ll call you.”

 

“So we have a Sonic meta running around the city now?” Cisco half-laughed. “Just when I think things can’t get weirder.”

“I don’t know, but whoever or  _ whatever _ it is we need to catch it.” Barry gestured with his hand.

“I can’t get anything conclusive off this thing, it’s like after it detaches it loses all trace of anything.” Caitlin looked up at Barry from her microscope.

“So, what?” Barry quirked an eyebrow and scoffed. “We need a fresh sample?  That would mean we have to know where this guy is.”

Suddenly, the computer chimed.

_ Right on time.  _ Barry thought.

“Meta-Human app, says there’s some sort of...Spike dude robbing a jewelry store on Milton St.” Cisco looked up and shook his head. “That’s not his name, I can come up with something better, like...I got nothing, dude’s a hedgehog, just go get him, Barry.”

Barry nodded, grabbed his suit, and ran out the door.

 

“I’m here!” Barry skidded to a halt.

A small man with spikes all over his back and arms, dressed only in a pair of black ripped jeans stood in the center of the street, a grin plastered on his smug face.

“Flash!  It’s about time!” He shouted. “I thought you were the fastest man alive!”

“Well, even I got stuff I have to do.” Barry shrugged. “Let’s just make this easier, turn yourself in!”

The man pulled two spikes out of his shoulders, holding them in both hands, he charged Barry.

“Take that as a no then…” Barry sped to the side. “Any ideas, guys?”

“You need to get him down without getting too close,” Caitlin said.

“Easier said than done!” Barry dodged another attack and aimed a punch at his face which was blocked with an arm, sticking Barry with a quill. “Agh!”

“Barry?” Cisco asked. “You good?” There was a sound that Barry knew as Caitlin smacking his arm on the other side of the line.

“He stuck me!” Barry replied, running around back of him.

“Big mistake, Flash.” The meta said, he crouched down and spikes went flying out his back, straight at Barry.  Barry managed to dodge the bulk of the spikes, but not before ten spikes had stuck themselves firmly in his side, he fell down, clutching his side in pain.

“Barry!” Caitlin shouted.

Barry stood weakly, looking around. 

_ Whoever he was...He’s gone now… _

Barry sped into the cortex, stumbling onto the ground.

“We need to get those out of you before you heal, get up!” Caitlin said, her and Cisco quickly pulled him up onto the examining table. “I need your suit off, I can’t see anything past this stupid leather.”

“The leather is  _ not  _ stupid!” Cisco protested.

 

___

 

Usually, Kara woke when the sun hit her face or her alarm rang but when she opened her eyes, she found herself not in her apartment, an arm was about her shoulder and a warm (thankfully clothed) body was sat next to her on...Right, she had fallen asleep last night in STAR Labs after they couldn’t figure out how to unblock her memory, she remembered vaguely sitting next to Barry on the couch in the lounge...Kara looked over and saw Barry sleeping soundly next to her, it was his arm around her shoulders and she realized that she must have fallen asleep leaning on his shoulder, again.

_ Oh... _ Kara’s face got hot. Carefully as she could, she tried to worm her way out of his grip.

“Mmmm…” Barry opened his eyes and looked over at her, smiling softly. “Hey, you fell asleep.”

“So did you apparently.” Kara looked down at the floor, hoping her face wasn't as red as it felt.  “Sorry.”

“Well, I would have sped you home but I don’t know where you live.” Barry stretched, lifting his arm from her shoulders.  “Figured you’d like it better if you woke up here rather than Joe’s house.”

“Who’s Joe?” Kara looked at him, confused. “Thought I’d met the whole, STAR Labs gang, although that creepy guy in the wheelchair is nowhere to be found, is that Joe?”

“No, no, that’s Dr. Wells,” Barry corrected. “He’s a little creepy I will admit, but he’s my mentor, he’s at a week-long conference in Keystone City.”

“But who’s Joe then?” Kara scrunched her eyebrows together.a

“Joe is kind of like my Dad, he took me in after my Mom died and my Dad went to prison, I’m living at his house right now.” Barry shrugged.

“You still live with your adoptive Dad?” Kara laughed.

_ At least he still has one... _ A voice whispered in the back of her head.

“Yeah, is that lame?” Barry laughed. “Don’t answer that, it really is.”

“Guys?” Cisco’s sounded voice over the loudspeaker in the lounge. “I don’t mean to interrupt whatever it is y’all are doin’ but the hedgehog man? Nope, not that, Spike is back and he’s robbing another store.”

“Duty calls.” Barry stretched and stood up, after thinking for a moment, he offered his hand to help her up. “Do you wanna tag along?  I could use some help against this guy.”

“Sure thing, sidekick.” Kara teased, taking his hand.

“Guys? Meta, robbing a store…!” Cisco’s voice over the loudspeaker again, more urgent this time.

 

Kara landed next to Barry in front of the jewelry store, the windows were shattered and the alarm was blaring.

“What’s the plan?” Kara asked.

“Go in there, cuff him, take him to the pipeline,” Barry answered, he sped into the store.

“Uh, that’s not much of a plan!” Kara ran in after him.

“Did you bring a date, Flash?” Spike was standing in the center of the store, regarding them with a steely gaze. “I’m gonna enjoy killing her in front of you.”

“I think you’ll have a hard time with that.” Barry met Kara’s eyes knowingly.

“Alright, buddy,” Kara put up her fists. “Drop the bags and you won’t get punched into next week.”

“Very well…” Spike dropped the bags, putting his hands up. Suddenly, spikes jutted out from his arms, shooting at Barry and Kara, Barry speed-caught the spikes.

“That won’t work a second time.” He said, dropping them to the ground.

“Kara, you should try and hit him, maybe his spikes won’t pierce your skin,” Caitlin said.

_ And if they do?  What then? _

Kara pushed her thoughts aside and stepped up to Spike.

“Hey!” She shouted, her voice only slightly quivering.

_ Very intimidating, Kara. _

“You…” Spike looked her up and down. “You’re the daughter of Alura Zor-El.”

Kara’s headache from the previous night came back with a vengeance, causing her to stumble.

“Your mother...Sent me to that hell!” Spike charged forward toward her, Kara tried to dodge out of the way.  

“Supergirl!” Barry jumped between him and Kara, speed-punched him in the jaw and knocked him out cold.

_ Zor-El...Zor-El... _ Kara’s mind repeated the phrase over and over again, she fell to the ground, clutching her head.  _ Zor-El! Zor-El!  _ Her mind was screaming now.

“Kara!” Barry was holding her, his voice fading as she felt her consciousness slip. 

 

Kara opened her eyes, her vision was blurry, switching from x-ray vision and back to normal, and distant sounding voices warbled through her ears like a siren.

“Is this how it feels to be hung over?” Kara sat up, holding her head. “If so, ow.”

“Kara!” Barry’s voice from next to her, his hand grabbed hers.

“Not so loud…” She leaned away from the sound of his voice.

“Sorry…” He whispered.

“Your brain scan is showing extreme stress,” Caitlin spoke on the other side of her.

“I could have told you that.” Kara rubbed her eyes with one hand. “What happened?”

“I don’t know, Spike was saying something about...Alura Zor-El?” Barry said.

Kara’s head pounded.

_ Zor-El!  Zor-El!  _ Kara’s mind screamed at her.

“Ack…” She held her head. “Don’t say that anymore,  _ please. _ ”

“Does that mean anything to you?” Caitlin asked.

“It feels like it should…” Kara trailed off. “I wanna go see that pod again, maybe there’s something in there.”

“Woah...Are you sure you should even be walking?” Barry asked.

Kara stood up from the hospital bed, stumbling, Barry caught her before she could fall.

“I have super-strength, Barry, I think I can walk myself.” Kara let go of Barry, taking a step she stumbled again, Barry promptly caught her again. “Okay, I might need a  _ little  _ help.”

 

Kara and Barry stepped out of the elevator.  Kara was leaning on Barry for support.

_ Zor-El...Zor-El... _ Her headache had intensified the lower they went in the elevator, repeating the same word over and over and as they approached the pod, it got worse.

“Are you okay?” Barry looked down at her.

“I’m fine,” Kara snapped. “Help me get in.”

Barry reluctantly gave her a boost upwards and she clambered into the pod haphazardly.

“Oof!” Kara knocked her knee on something.

“Are you okay?” Barry asked.

“Yeah, I just busted my knee on…” Kara looked down. “Something…”

Kara pulled out a cylindrical shaped object with spikes at the top.

“What is that thing?” Barry looked up at it in confusion.

“I don’t know, but I bet Cisco can find out,” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gasp


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been forever i know and this chapter is kind of short, maybe you'll get a longer chapter next week   
> this is just to set some stuff up for next week

"Yeah man, I have no idea." Cisco tapped the object Kara had found with his screwdriver. "If Dr. Wells were here, he'd know but pshh, I got no clue."  
"I thought you guys were nerds." Kara protested. "Can't you do one thing without this professor guy?"  
"Dr. Wells is kind of the smartest man alive so excuse me for wanting a little help," Cisco said.  
"Guys, guys, come on," Barry interjected, stepping between Cisco and Kara. "Cisco, you're smart too, are you sure you can't figure it out?"  
"Yeah, it's alien tech, it's not exactly in English!" Cisco argued.  
“What? You mean you can’t read that?” Kara questioned, raising an eyebrow.  
“Wait, you can read that?” Cisco raised an eyebrow at Kara quizzically.  
“Yeah,” Kara affirmed cautiously.  
Add that to the list of reasons I’m not normal then...  
“What’s it say?” Barry asked.  
Kara picked up the object and examined it further, trying to read the tiny inscriptions and suddenly as if her hands were acting by muscle memory, she twisted the top and pressed a button on the side; instantly, a hologram of a brown-haired woman wearing a deep blue robe appeared, Kara jumped back and dropped the object.  
“What the hell?!” Kara swore.  
The hologram disappeared as the projector clattered to the ground.  
“What was that?” Barry put his hand on Kara’s shoulder, causing her to jerk away in alarm, her heart still racing.  
“I don’t know,” Kara answered, carefully bending and picking it up and examining it again.  
Must be a projector...Or the alien version of one at least.  
“Well, now we know it’s a projector,” Cisco voiced what Kara had been thinking.  
“Duh,” Kara rolled her eyes. “Let’s see what the hologram lady has to say.”  
“Help me, Kara Danvers, you’re my only hope.” Cisco joked.  
Kara rolled her eyes and activated the projector again, setting it on the ground gently.  
“Kara, my brave daughter,” The hologram spoke in a foreign language, yet the words translated seamlessly in Kara’s mind, she looked up at the hologram in awe, a memory tugging at the back of her mind. “By now you have become the woman I knew you would grow up to be.”  
The hologram glitched, becoming static-y  
“And though you were sent to Earth to protect young---your destiny is not tied to his.” Another tug at the back of Kara’s mind.  
The hologram stuttered, the next few sentences too jumbled to understand.  
“Be wise, be strong and always be true to-” The hologram froze and cut out, disappearing.  
“Kara,” Barry’s voice broke her from her trance. “Are you okay?”  
“Yeah, I’m fine, why?” Her voice sounded foreign to her ears,  
Barry reached up and wiped Kara’s cheek with his thumb.  
“Well, you’re crying.” He said.  
“What? I’m not cryin-,” Kara laughed, she reached up and touched her cheek, surprised to find it wet with tears.  
What the hell?  
“I don’t even know that person...” She whispered.  
Another tug at the back of her mind said otherwise, as did the tears still streaming down her cheeks.  
“What did it even say?” Cisco asked.  
Kara translated what the hologram had said.  
“So the pod is yours,” Barry said. “But that doesn’t explain why Dr. Wells had it.”  
“Maybe Dr. Wells isn’t what he seems,” Kara added crossly.  
“Dr. Wells is a good man, he saved my life and countless other people’s lives,” Barry argued angrily.  
“I’m just saying, who keeps an alien pod in some creepy basement?” Kara protested.  
“Guys, come on, he’s coming back tomorrow, we can just ask him,” Cisco assured. “I’m sure he just didn’t know what it was.”  
“Sure, the man you claim to be “the smartest guy in the world” just didn’t know an alien pod when he saw it.” Kara rolled her eyes. “Sometimes people aren’t what they seem.”  
“But Dr. Wells is!” Barry snapped. “You just haven’t met him, Kara.”  
“Oh I met him, and he was plenty creepy if you ask me!” Kara glared up at Barry.  
“Guys!” Cisco shouted.  
“What?” They both said in unison, turning their glares toward him.  
“Joe’s here.” Cisco pointed to the doorway, where Joe was standing, regarding them with a look that made Kara want to turn tail and run the other way, she’d seen that look before.  
Barry’s adoptive-dad is a cop...Her frown deepened.  
“I have been calling you for an hour,” Joe’s voice was cold as ice. “You were supposed to come to dinner tonight, I had to tell Iris you were caught up in a case, I don’t like lying to my daughter, Barry.”  
“I’m sorry Joe, I completely forgot,” Barry confessed. “I’ll make it up to you, I’m finished here anyway.” He shot a glare back at Kara and picked up his jacket, moving to leave.  
“Wait a minute, son.” Joe stopped Barry with a hand to his chest. “Aren’t you gonna introduce your…” Joe looked Kara up and down. “Friend.”  
“Kara, this is Joe West, Joe, this is Kara Danvers,” Barry said half-heartedly.  
Joe’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of her name.  
That can’t be good...Already Kara’s mind was racing at how long it would take to move again when Joe put on an obviously fake smile and offered his hand for her to shake.  
“Danvers huh?” Joe asked.  
He’s onto me.  
“Yes,” She took his hand and shook it apprehensively.  
“Nice to meet you.” He let go.  
“Likewise.” Kara’s voice was quavering slightly.  
He’s gonna tell him.

____

“Your new friend seems...Nice.” Joe spoke finally, so far he had been sitting silently next to Barry in the car.  
“Yeah, she’s nice,” Barry hesitated. “But she doesn’t trust people.”  
“Well,” Joe’s voice was stiff.  
“What?” Barry asked.  
“I think you trust too easily, son,”  
“You don’t get it, Joe, she’s a good person.”  
Joe sighed.  
“Have you ever heard of Dr. Eliza Danvers?” He asked.  
“No, why?”  
“She was a biologist that worked in different cities all over America, ten years ago her, her husband and their daughter died,” Joe drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “right after they adopted a young girl from the foster system named Kara.”  
“What are you saying?” Barry asked warily.  
“I’m saying Kara Danvers is a suspect in a murder case, Barry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in retrospect, kara should have changed her last name  
> i choose to say she just couldn't figure out how


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did i say this chapter would be out next week? i lied, here it is

Kara was breathing hard, the world was spinning around her.

_ I should have changed my stupid name! What was I thinking! _

She sat down roughly.

_ You knew this would happen eventually. _

She ran a hand through her hair anxiously.

_ You let yourself trust and look at what happened. _

She hugged herself, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Kara!” Cisco was talking to her, she whipped her head up to look at him.

“What?” She snapped.

“Geez, touchy much?” Cisco joked. “I’m gonna go home, and unless you wanna be locked in a lab all by yourself, you should go home too.”

“Right…Right! I should go home, that’s a great idea.” She said, all too quickly.

“Hey, are you okay?” Cisco reached to touch her shoulder. “I’m no Barry Allen when it comes to feelings but..-”

“I’m fine!” Kara snapped again, pulling away from his touch. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” she lied

  
  
  


_ Stupid, stupid, stupid  _ She started packing her bag more hurriedly when she heard a whooshing sound behind her.

“Were you gonna leave without saying goodbye?” 

_ Barry. _

She turned around and looked at him, he hung his shoulders low and his eyes looked red, they held an apprehension she’d never seen before and that scared her.

“Barry look-” She started, stepping toward him, he stepped back in disgust.

“I don’t want excuses, I want the truth, Kara.” He implored.  “I mean, did you ever even tell the truth?! I trusted you, Kara!”

Kara took a deep breath.

“It’s a long story, you should probably sit down.”

 

_

 

Kara was stupid, she was incredibly stupid to have run again the previous day, now she was being subjected to more testing than usual today, such as being poked and prodded, more blood being taken, more strenuous tests designed to push her powers to their very limits and injected with a green liquid that made her feel like her whole body was on fire that deactivated her powers. 

Eliza was the one doing this, Eliza claimed to be her new mother, but even if Kara couldn’t remember her real mother, she knew Eliza was nothing like her, or how a mother  _ should  _ be.

As much as she loathed to say it, Kara missed being in the foster system, at the very least there, no one paid attention to her, but that was before she met  _ her. _

 

Eliza somehow knew about her and her abilities, that was why she adopted her, saying she would “take care” of her.  Kara was stupid enough to have believed her.   
She was taken to a facility in the middle of the woods and made to push herself to the limits, from what she overheard, she knew the organization holding her was called the DEO, but she didn’t know what that meant.

 

At the end of the day, Kara was slammed roughly back into her small “room” as Eliza called it, but Kara knew it was a cell.

The cell was more lavish than the average DEO cell, it was made to look like an average 15 year old’s bedroom, with white wallpaper and even a window (of course lined with the same energy field that served as her fourth wall) looking out to the forest, the cot in the corner had a neon pink bedspread and there was a small desk with some art supplies lain upon it.

“Kara, I want you to know it pains me to have to do this all to you,” Eliza lied, crouched in front of the energy field, looking in at her with cold eyes. “I want you to be happy here, sweetie.” Her voice was sickly sweet.

“Zhadif!” Kara challenged, she didn’t know what she was saying, or even why she was being stupid enough to challenge Eliza period, against her better judgment, she stood up and glared down at Eliza.

“Tsk, tsk.” Eliza chided. “Sweetie, I need you to speak English, I know you know it!” 

“Zhadif!” Kara repeated, reveling in her small rebellion.

An electric pulse made Kara fall to her knees in pain, radiating from the seemingly normal hospital bracelet.  Eliza had taken out the small fob that controlled it from her lab coat.

“Sweetheart, come on, I don’t want to ask again, please?” Eliza threatened to press the button again.

“Please!” Kara begged. “Not again…I’ll be good...”

“There we go, that’s my girl!” Eliza praised, clapping her hands together. “Now sweetheart, I’ll be back in the morning bright and early to bring you breakfast, then we can start on the tests together, hmm?”

Kara hated the tests.

“Yes...Mother…” She wilted down into fetal position, hugging her knees close to her chest as Eliza walked away.

Kara felt her eyes heating up and quickly squeezed them shut to prevent more tears from falling.  She sniffled and went to lie down on her cot, opening her eyes to see where she was going, two white-hot beams erupted from her eyes, knocking her back into the adjacent wall and tearing up the wall she was facing.

_ What the hell?  _ Kara stood up, examining the damage she’d done, an idea suddenly hit her.

 

She quickly set to work, she moved her desk over by the window so she could stand on it and focused on making her eyes do that thing again, heat vision? That sounded right.  Already she could feel the rest of her powers returning, the strength returning little by little, it would probably be another hour before she could fly, but it would take an hour to deactivate the energy shield around the window.

  
It had taken longer than she thought it would, and the newfound ability had drained her more than she anticipated, she wouldn’t be able to fly anytime soon, but she didn’t care, she  _ had  _ to get away, right now.

She clambered out the window, falling harshly onto the leaf-covered dirt below, she hissed in pain, having fallen weird on her ankle. 

_ Maybe all my powers aren’t back yet... _ She grimaced and limped toward the security fence around the facility, careful to avoid the spotlights.

  
As Kara limped, she looked around for guards, but none were to be found.  

_ That’s weird… _ Kara squared her shoulders and tried to limp faster.  Usually, after an escape attempt, the building was on high-lockdown for a few days, but there was no trace of anyone around at all.

Kara reached the fence and used her heat vision to make a hole big enough to squeeze through.

An alarm rang out behind her and she knew that her empty room had probably been found, she quickly squeezed through the hole she had made and went to start running when she heard a voice behind her.

“Kara!” It was  _ her.  _

Kara turned and glared at Eliza, standing in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by guards brandishing tranquilizer guns that were designed specifically to work on her, to pierce her steel skin.

“Sweetheart, don’t make me have to chase you again!  Come home!”

“Khap Kehp zha zehdh !” Kara shouted back, she felt her eyes heating up against her will.

It happened in slow motion, her heat vision activated, the next thing she knew there was an explosion that knocked her back and when she turned to run, the reality of what she had done dawned on her.

She turned and looked at the blaze that used to be her prison.

_ Eliza’s entire family lived there, her daughter and her husband...The daughter was around my age... _ Her mind was racing now.

_ Eliza is dead. _

_ All those people. _

Kara felt sick to her stomach, she turned and went to take off, but a force stopped her.

_ You caused this. _ A voice whispered, it almost sounded like Eliza’s sickly sweet tones.   _ Your powers caused this. _

Kara threw up onto the ground in front of her.

_ I’m never using my powers again… _

 

_

 

“Wow.” Barry breathed.  "I don’t even...I don’t know what to say.”

“I don’t blame you if you hate me,” Kara confessed, her voice hoarse. 

_ I hate me too… _

“So what changed your mind?  Why did you decide to help me?” Barry implored. “Why use your powers again?”

“I think, in a way…” Kara fumbled with her hands, wishing she had something to fiddle with.  “I kind of felt it was a way to make up for what I did.”

“Why didn’t you turn yourself in?” Barry looked up at her with his stupid beautiful eyes.

“I was afraid.” Kara admitted.  “Even if Eliza is...Gone...I was afraid that they would try and take me back, I can’t do that again, I can’t.” Her voice quavered.

“Hey, I’m not gonna make you do something you don’t want to do,” Barry’s hand took hers gently.  “I have this other friend, he’s done bad things too, he’s killed people, but he’s trying to be better, to make up for what he’s done.”

“That’s all I want to do.” Kara sniffed. “I just don’t know how, and I can’t stay here.”

“I asked Joe not to tell anyone at the station.” Barry squeezed her hand.  “I had to get the truth.”

“Now you have it, what are you gonna do?” Kara asked.

 

“You want me to do  _ what?” _ Cisco asked incredulously.

“I want you to make a fake ID.” Barry answered, matter-of-factly.

“Barry, when you said ‘we’re gonna get help’ I didn’t think you meant forging documents.” Kara hissed into his ear.

“That’s right!” Barry snapped his fingers. “We also need to disguise you somehow, how do you feel about glasses?”

“What?  I’m pretty sure glasses won’t work as a disguise, Barry.” Kara crossed her arms. 

“Guys?  Yes, hello, can I get an explanation, please?” Cisco threw his hands up in the air.

Caitlin walked into the cortex, putting her purse down, she looked up at them.

“Uhh, what’s going on here?” She asked apprehensively.  

“That’s what I’d like to know!” Cisco shouted.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kara was speaking in Kryptonian, all of it came from Kryptonian.info  
> Zhadif-Never  
> Khap Kehp zha zehdh-I have no home  
> I couldn't get the sentence structure down, so it's just the same as english, yall purists can come for me  
> Next chapter should be out sometime in the next couple days, maybe  
> I tried to fix some of the formatting, the last chapter was kind of a huge block of text, still On The Hunt for a beta reader tho


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is like, waayyyy later than what i promised, blame she ra s3 and like, a general lack of motivation.  
> i mean i dont technically owe you guys a chapter so u dont get to complain lmao  
> i hope no one did that thing that i do where i forget i was reading something and i have to go back and read the last chapter.

“So let me get this straight,” Cisco pressed his hands together and took a deep breath. “You,” He gestured to Kara. “Are a fugitive.”

“Yes.” She answered stiffly.

“And you,” He gestured to Barry. “Want me to commit a federal crime and make her a fake ID.”

“Yes,” Barry answered confidently.

“Come on!” Cisco threw his hands up in the air.  “Barry, this is crazy!”

“I’m with Cisco on this one, Barry,” Caitlin added. “This is pretty crazy.”

“Barry, can I talk to you over here for a minute?” Kara didn’t wait for an answer, she pulled Barry harshly into the hallway.

“Ow.” He rubbed his arm in pain. “I think you dislocated my shoulder again.”

“I didn’t pull that hard.” Kara asserted dismissively, rubbing her temple. “I really don’t think telling them is a good idea.”

“Don’t you trust them?” He asked incredulously. 

“It’s not that, I do trust them, I just think that…” Kara hesitated.

_Here we go…_

“I think the more people that know, the more likely it is that I’m gonna be arrested or worse,” She bit her lip nervously. “I can’t stay here, Barry, people already know me, I can’t just get a fake ID and stay.”

“I know.” Barry sighed put his hands on her arms and ran them up and down, it was comforting gesture but it really just made Kara even tenser.  “As much as I would love for you to stay…” Barry hesitated. “I know that you need to go.”

“Barry, Kara!” Cisco shouted from inside the cortex, catching their attention.  They met eyes and ran in together.

“What is it, Cisco?” Barry asked.

“Meta-human app, there’s something going down at the graveyard,” Cisco replied.

“You guys better get down there fast,” Caitlin said.

 

_

 

“What kind of person robs a graveyard anyway?” Kara shuddered despite the warm air around her.  “This place gives me the creeps, Bar.”

“I don’t know.” Barry’s voice sounded through comms. “I just did a whole perimeter check, can you see anything from above?”

“I can’t see anything through this stupid fog.” She responded.

“Not even with your x-ray vision?”

“That’s not really how it works.” Kara squinted. “Meet me at the entrance and we can continue on foot.”

Kara landed next to Barry on the ground just outside the entrance. 

“I hate graveyards.” She said.

“Me too,” Barry replied grimly.  “Come on.”

Kara followed closely behind Barry as they trudged through their eerily quiet surroundings.

A bird’s shriek broke the silence.

“Ack!” Kara jumped and grabbed onto Barry’s arm.

“Ow!” Barry cried out.  “It was just a bird, please don’t break my arm, Kara.”

“Sorry.” She let go and composed herself. “Just jumpy I guess.”

“Come on...Come on!” A voice sounded from somewhere nearby. Kara grabbed Barry’s arm again.

“O-!” Barry began to cry out again.

“Shh!  Do you hear that?” She hissed.

“No,” Barry admitted. “What is it?”

Kara pulled Barry behind a particularly large headstone. “Shh,” She shushed. “Listen…”

Kara listened harder, it sounded like someone was digging

“Is it a grave robber?” Barry whispered.

“I’m pretty sure no one’s grave robbed since the 19th century,” Kara whispered back.

“Finally…” The voice said.

Kara squinted her eyes and looked through the gravestone they were hiding behind, the voice belonged to a woman covered in dirt as if she’d been digging for a long time, she looked to have been digging up a fairly recent grave.

“I stand corrected…” Kara whispered to Barry. “Looks like she’s been digging up a grave.”

Kara turned her attention back to the woman, she had taken out a shovel and was upheaving the dirt around the lid.

“What’s going on?” Barry asked.

“She’s trying to open the lid,” Kara answered. “Shh.”

The woman used the shovel to crack open the lid and reached in with her other hand.

“Barry, what’s the plan?” Kara looked back over to him. 

“What?” Barry whispered incredulously. “Why me?”

“You’re the one with experience!” Kara whispered back.

“Fine!” Barry looked over the top of the headstone and quickly ducked back down, facing Kara. “Hey, Kara?”

“What?”

“She’s gone.”

“What?!” Kara jumped up and looked around frantically, just as Barry said, the woman was nowhere to be seen.  “How did we manage to lose a woman?”

Barry sped over to the grave where the woman had been digging.

“Two women.” He said flatly.

“What?” Kara asked for what felt like the millionth time that day.

Barry pointed down at the grave, Kara floated over and looked down.

“Shit.”

 

___

 

“Who steals a dead body?” Caitlin asked.  “I mean, it’s a little weird, right?”

“A little?” Kara scoffed.

“Guys,” Barry interrupted disappointedly. “Cisco, have you had any luck locating her on traffic cameras?”

“No man, it’s like she knows how to avoid them.” Cisco typed aggravatingly at his keyboard before giving up and leaning back. “She’s like a ghost, she doesn’t even exist.”

Barry rubbed the back of his head and paced. 

“We have to find her.” He said.

“Duh, we can’t just let her walk around with a corpse.” Kara rolled her eyes. 

“She’s like, some kind of…” Caitlin trailed off, gesturing idly with her hand in thought. 

“Necromaniac?” Cisco supplied.

Caitlin clapped her hands and nodded.

“Really?” Kara asked. “I thought you guys only gave metas names, we don’t know if she’s even a meta.”

“I mean, what could she have been stealing it for?” Caitlin thought out loud.

“I don’t think I want to know what she was using it for.” Kara protested with a shudder.

“I mean,” Barry shrugged. “We could see if any medical studies are being conducted right now with dead bodies?  That might lead somewhere, Cisco?”

“On it,” Cisco said, he began to type on his computer and after a moment he threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “No studies!  Not even in community college!”

“Well, who’s body was it then?” Caitlin leaned over Cisco, looking at his screen.

“Uh…” Kara looked at Barry for help, but he seemed to be at even more of a loss than she was.

“Did neither of you even look at the headstone?” Caitlin put her hands on her hips and looked between them. 

“It's fine, I’ll just speed back and check.” Barry shrugged, with that he sped off, blowing a flurry of papers off the desk.

“I really hate it when he does that.” Cisco picked up the papers, exasperated. “You’d think we’d invest in a paperweight.”

Barry sped back in, blowing the papers out of Cisco’s hands. 

“Jessica Miller.” He said matter-of-factly.

“I think I remember reading something about her the other day…” Cisco said.

Cisco sat back down and started tapping on his keyboard again.

“Jessica Miller…” He said in thought. “Here she is, she died last week of a freak heart attack, her family were all caught off guard.”  
“I remember that! The news covered it!  Apparently, she was a teen prodigy and was about to go to college on a piano scholarship.” Caitlin said.

“Yeah, her sister did an interview, look.” Cisco put the interview up on the screen.

The woman in the interview had dark curly hair in a bob and dark skin, her eyes looked she had been crying. 

“-She was always so happy, I don’t know why this happened, she was never stressed.” The woman sobbed, she held a tissue to her eyes.

“This is her sister?” Kara asked.

“Yeah, Wanda Miller, she was there when it happened,” Cisco responded. “Yeesh, I wouldn’t wanna be her.”

“Wait,” Kara squinted up at the screen. “That’s her, that’s the woman I saw!”

“Really?” Barry looked over at her in surprise.

“Yeah, I think so,” Kara looked harder. “It was dark, but I think that’s her.”

“So she dug up her sister’s corpse?” Caitlin shuddered.

“And it looks like she rented an air-conditioned storage unit recently,” Cisco said with a flourish on his keyboard.

“You don’t think…” Kara began.

“She’s hiding the body there.” Barry finished for her with a shudder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooo she's hiding the body there  
> this chapter had so many rewrites, don't expect the next chapter anytime soon tbh, i'll start on it but i make no promises on when it will be out.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was a lengthy write, i'm proud of the length tho  
> pls enjoy   
> (TW for dead bodies, nothing too graphic, promise.)

“Okay, we have dealt with  _ a lot  _ of nasty stuff,” Cisco spoke over comms, sounding like he was ready to throw up. “But that is up there.”

“Mhm…” Caitlin affirmed, also sounding rather ill.

Kara landed on her feet beside Barry outside the storage unit.

“We haven’t even opened it yet.” She responded, rolling her eyes.  

“Locked,” Barry muttered. “Here, Kara stand back.”

Barry bent his knees so his face was level with the lock, raising his hands and shaking them.

“What are you doing?” Kara asked.

“Shh!” He insisted.  “I need to focus!”

_ Jesus Christ… _ Kara thought with what felt like her millionth eye roll that day.

Barry repeatedly attempted to do whatever it was he was doing

“Barry…” Kara commented through gritted teeth.

“I got it!”

“Move.” Kara snapped, pushing him out of the way and crushing the lock in her hand.

“That works too...I guess.” Barry grumbled.

“Come on.” Kara pushed the panel door open. 

“God, what is that smell?” Barry held a hand to his face over his mask. “Do you smell that?”

“I have super senses.” She gagged.

_ So that’s what a corpse smells like… _ She thought with a grimace

“Right.” He said.

The storage unit was lit with a simple fluorescent white light, there were a couple of boxes stacked in the back, but in the center of the room was a metal examination table, upon which the corpse of Jessica Miller lay.

“Hey, I think I found some more info on Wanda Miller.” Cisco’s voice came over a little too loudly, making Kara and Barry both jump.

“What is it, Cisco?” Barry put his hand up to his ear.

_ Why does he even do that?  _ Kara thought absently, barely even listening to Cisco.  _ I mean, it’s not like it helps him hear any better… _

Barry nodded along to what Cisco was saying, his eyes narrowing in thought, and his nose scrunching up.

_ I mean, it is kind of cute... _ She tilted her head,  _ Wait, he’s looking at me... _

“What?” She asked dumbly, feeling heat creep up on her cheeks for being caught not paying attention, on top of being caught staring.

“I said, what do you think?” Barry said, clearly the fact that she was staring had gone right over his head.

_ Thank God he’s stupid.  _ She added silently as she composed herself.

“About what?” She asked.

“What happened to super senses?” Barry smirked.

“Well,” Cisco interrupted. “Wanda Miller was a doctor working in Central City General when the particle accelerator exploded, but after that she became reclusive and rarely showed up for work, it apparently got even worse after her sister died.” 

“So she just snapped?” Kara thought out loud. 

“Apparently,” Caitlin said.

“Woah, she’s on her way there and walking fast.” The sound of Cisco clacking on his keyboard came over the comms. 

“Hide!” Kara hissed in a whisper.

“Where?” Barry looked around, panicked.

“I don’t know!” She argued back.

“She’s turning the corner!” Caitlin warned.

Kara looked around frantically before settling her eyes on him.

“Keep your legs straight.” She commanded before rushing behind him and wrapping her arms around his chest; she propelled herself up to the ceiling, pressing her back to the tiles and holding Barry so his back was pressed against her chest.   
“Woah.” He breathed.

“Shh!” She shushed.

 

Wanda walked in, her mind was clearly in a million places because she didn’t even notice the broken lock or the fact that the door was ajar.  She was wearing blue surgery gloves and a lab coat over her clothes.

“Jessica...I’m sorry, baby girl.” She said, running a gloved hand across Jessica’s cold features.

“That’s mad creepy,” Cisco noted, unhelpfully.

“Let’s get started then…” Wanda mused to herself.  She walked over to a small side table and picked up a clean scalpel and putting some earbuds into her ears.

“We’ve got to stop her!” Barry whispered, wriggling in Kara’s grip.

“Sh! She’ll hear you!” Kara whisper-argued back at him.

The way Barry was fighting her grip made her intimately aware of how close he was to her.

“Stop, I’ll dr-” Kara started before she did exactly what she absolutely did not want to do, drop Barry right into the pile of boxes stacked in the back.

“Shit.” She cursed.

“That’s gotta hurt…” Cisco’s color commentary.

_ Useful as always. _ Kara thought.

“Flash?!” Wanda cried in alarm.

Barry jumped up from where he landed.

“Yes, citizen,” Barry spoke, his voice sounding distorted for some reason. “I was here investigating...A crime...But I see you’re busy, so we’ll just go.”

“Wait, we?” Wanda looked up, spotting Kara floating in the air. “Who-? It doesn’t matter, you can’t be here!”

“Exactly why we should be going, right Supergirl?” Barry urged Kara, nodding toward the door.

“Yes!” Kara declared. “Let’s go...Do hero stuff!” 

Wanda looked from one of them to the other, she was standing in their exit, right in the door.

“Now, if you’ll excuse us…” Barry started to speed past her but she put an arm out to stop him

“I’m sorry Flash, I can’t let you leave, not until I have answers.” She took a step back, still impending their exit and in one swift movement, she slammed the sliding door down with a crash.

Kara landed next to Barry and glared at him.

“We were just about to see what she was doing!” She retorted.

“You can have time to be mad at me later, punch the door in!” Barry argued.

“Whatever.” She sighed, opting to grab the door with both hands and pry it open, revealing Wanda on the other side who had just finished locking it with a new lock.

“Wh...What…” She stepped back in fear. “What are you?”

“She’s an alien!” Barry quipped from behind her.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Wanda stepped back further, holding her hands up.

Kara stepped through the hole she had made, Barry following after her.

“I don’t think you will.” Kara reeled back for a punch.

Wanda thrust her hands out, sending a pulse of energy out, and throwing both Barry and Kara backward into the storage unit.

 

Kara opened her eyes slowly, coming to with a groan.

“Ugh, are you okay, Barry?” She asked.

Barry’s head popped up from under an upended box of clothing.

“Yeah..” He rubbed his head in pain.

Kara looked around until she realized...Something was on top of her, no not something.

_ Someone. _

“Eugh!” She shrieked, pushing the corpse off of her. “Gross!”

“Are you guys okay?” Caitlin’s static-y voice came through the comms, startling them both.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Barry said.

“Caitlin was ready to march over there with the entire SWAT team,” Cisco remarked.

There was a silence, which by now Kara knew to be Caitlin and Cisco glaring at each other playfully.

“He was worried too,” Caitlin added.

“Wanda’s gone, she blasted us with some kind of sonic blast or something,” Barry said he was now standing over by the entrance they’d been knocked through.

Kara stood up, brushing herself off with a shudder.  

“We should get going,” She said.  Just as she said that she heard police sirens down the way, confirming her suspicions. 

“Race you.” Barry grinned, speeding off.

Kara rolled her eyes but smirked despite herself, taking off after him.

 

“Is there any way you can scan what she hit us with?” Barry asked, he was currently sat down in one of the desk chairs, absently rotating from side to side, now changed out of his suit and into a STAR Labs sweatshirt. 

“No, she fried the energy detectors in my suit!” Cisco complained, still tinkering away at Barry’s suit.

“What about Kara’s?” Barry asked.

“I haven’t installed anything in her suit yet, it’s just a Mark I!” Cisco retorted. “Art takes time, Barry.”

Kara writhed around in her seat as Caitlin continued her examinations.

“You seem to be fine, your vitals are normal,” Caitlin said. “Normal for you anyway.”

Kara breathed a sigh of relief and rushed, borderline sped, over to Barry, she leaned on the back of his chair, finding his proximity comforting.  Barry looked up at her with a smile that made her heart flutter.

_ Traitor.  _ She told it.

“Maybe you should install the sensors or whatever in my suit then.” Kara retorted in Cisco’s direction.

"I have a life outside of here you know!” Cisco said he pointed his screwdriver pointedly at Kara as he spoke. “I do things!”

“Oh yeah?” Kara scoffed. “Like what?”

“I…” Cisco’s reply died in his mouth.

“Exactly.” Kara crossed her arms.

“Would you two stop?” Caitlin said as she picked up her jacket and purse.

“Are you leaving, Caitlin?” Barry asked, he sounded like a lost little puppy and Kara almost laughed.

“Barry, it’s two o’clock in the morning.” Caitlin pointed at her watch. “And I would love to get some sleep before Dr. Wells gets back tomorrow.”

“But we need to find Wanda.” He replied in the same tone.

“Barry, as your doctor and your friend,” Caitlin put a hand on Barry’s shoulder.  “Go home and get some sleep.”

Caitlin walked out with a flourish.

“Hey, Kara.” Barry turned in his chair to face her.

“What?” Kara looked down at his suspiciously.

“I didn’t even say anything yet.” He protested.

“You get this look in your eye when you’re about to do something heroic or something.” She replied simply.

“What? No, I don’t.” He laughed. “I was just gonna ask if you wanted to get sushi or something? I know this great Chinese place that’s open almost all night.”

“That sounds good.” Kara smiled.

“You two have fun on your date, bring me back some.” Cisco didn’t look up from his work as he spoke, Kara had frankly forgotten he was still there.

“You can come if you want, Cisco.” Barry stood up and stretched. “It’s just down the street.”

“No, I have to finish fixing your suit, go on ahead.” Cisco waved his screwdriver as if to dismiss them out the door.

 

Barry and Kara burst into the cool Central City night air.  Kara took in the fresh air gratefully, glad to be out of the stuffy lab.

“So where is this great Chinese place?” She asked, sparing a glance up at Barry.

“Come on, I’ll show you, it’s a short walk,” Barry said.  He took her hand in his and pulled her along down the street.

“I trust you.” She said with a small smile, the feeling of his warm hand around hers was nice.

He soon made a turn off into a side street illuminated by an old neon sign in Mandarin.

“What is this place?” Kara asked, tilting her head as if that would help her read the sign.

“I don’t know the name,” Barry replied, scratching the back of his head with a laugh. “But I know that they make great potstickers.”

A grin spread across Kara’s face.

“Those are my favorite!” She said, she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tune in next week(?) for the thrilling conclusion to the superflash date!  
> and yes, this fic is officially superflash, i just...i'm weak for these puppy dogs ok  
> i'll try to have a new chapter next week.
> 
> don't know what to comment? try this  
> -what did you like?  
> -what didn't you like?  
> -what do you want to see?  
> -did something make you laugh?


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the date continues...

The realization dawned on Barry after watching Kara eat her seventeenth potsticker of the night.

_ This is a date. _ The thought almost made him spit out his drink.

“Are you okay?” Kara asked.

_ I hope my face isn’t too red.  _ He thought as he tried to scramble for an answer.

“Your face is as red as your suit, Barry.” Kara laughed.

“I just got a really spicy bite, that’s all.” He coughed.

“Alright.” Kara laughed again.

_ I could listen to that all day... _ Barry smiled at her, hoping he didn’t look too dopey.

“Thanks for doing this,” Kara said, she was tapping her fingers on the table as if she was agitated about something, Barry wanted nothing more than to reach over and take her hand to calm her down.  “I really needed this, especially since...:” She trailed off.

_ Especially since you’re leaving soon. _ Barry’s mind finished for her.

“You know,” He said. “You don’t  _ have  _ to go.” He acted on impulse and rested his hand over hers.

Kara looked down at their hands, if he didn’t know any better he’d think she was blushing, she sighed.

“We could prove you innocent, I mean we have some of the brightest minds in the world at STAR Labs,” He was babbling but he didn’t care. “I’m not giving up on you, Kara.”

“Barry,” She started, the look on her face made his heart pang.

“You don’t have to answer now, just think about it?” He clasped her hand in both of his across the table. “Please?’

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt but here’s your bill.” The waiter interrupted, they placed the bill on the table and Kara snatched it before he could.

“I ate seventeen potstickers, Barry, I am paying.” She asserted.

“Alright,” He laughed.

“Plus, the guy always pays, let a woman pay.” Kara glared at him.

“Oh It wasn’t a-I was just, I asked you and I was gonna-” Barry panicked.

“I’m kidding, Barry, relax.” She laughed. 

__

Barry and Kara walked out of the restaurant into the night air laughing, Barry didn’t remember what they were laughing about, he was just happy.

“Let me walk you home, it’s the least I can do after you paid.” He said, he looked down at her, they were holding hands.

_ When did that happen? _

“What a gentleman.” Kara laughed, she squeezed his hand gently.

The following walk was peaceful, they talked and laughed as they walked, and when she got cold he draped his jacket over her shoulders and he thought he caught her blushing.

He was sad when they got to her apartment building. 

“Let me walk you up, you never know what kind of people live here.” He made an excuse.

“I can defend myself.” She chuckled, but she let him walk her to her apartment door.

They stood in silence, waiting for the other to talk.

“I think we forgot to get Cisco his food.” Barry scratched the back of his head, which made Kara laugh which made him laugh,

“I think he’ll live.” She looked up at him and bit her lip nervously.

“Kara,” He started.

“Barry,” She started at the same time.

“You first.” He said.

“I-” She stopped, hesitating. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She turned to go in but Barry grabbed her hand again.

“Kara, wait.” He said.

Kara turned on her heel and grabbing the collar of his shirt with both hands, pulled him down for a kiss.

It was short, painfully short because Kara pulled back, still holding his collar.

“I shouldn’t have done that.” Kara bit her lip and slid her hands down his chest, letting them fall to her sides.

“Wow…” Barry breathed.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking, you probably don’t even feel the same wa-” Kara wrung her hands nervously as she babbled, Barry stopped her by kissing her again, deepening it this time and she kissed back with a fire.

It was beautiful and everything he secretly hoped it would be, and when they broke apart, Barry found his hands cupping her face, Kara’s hands were holding his collar with a steel grip.

Kara turned beet red and let go, looking up at him.

“Hey…” He sighed, he hoped he didn’t look as lovestruck as he felt. 

Kara turned around quickly, opened her door and slammed it right in his face.

“Kara!” He knocked on the door to no response. “Come to STAR Labs tomorrow, please?”

_ Was that too desperate? _

“Uh, Cisco wanted to show you his progress on...something.” He amended.

_ That sounded even more desperate…  _ He kicked himself mentally.

 

__

 

Barry didn’t sleep at all after he got home, and it showed as he pretended to listen to Cisco and Caitlin talk about something, holding his coffee like a lifeline. 

“Barry, did you even sleep at all?” Caitlin said as she looked him up and down.

“Yes?” He half answered half asked, she fixed him with a glare.

“Barry.” She scolded.

Barry shrugged and scratched the back of his head, trying to find words.

“I had a lot on my mind,” He settled on saying. 

“Like how you forgot to bring me my food after your date?” Cisco accused, turning around to face him in his chair.  “You have super-speed, Barry, how hard can it be to bring a guy some eggrolls?”

“Date?” Caitlin asked, looking between them.

“It wasn’t a date!” Barry protested.

_ Well, I did kiss her... _ He thought.

“It’s not what you guys think.” He protested further.

“What’s not what they think?” Kara asked as she walked in, looking like she also didn’t.

_ Oh god. _

“Nothing,” Barry said as he rushed over to her and gave a pointed look over his shoulder at Cisco who merely shrugged and turned back around in his chair.

“Okay…” She raised an eyebrow, edging away from Barry a little. 

“Wait…” Cisco stood up and pointed at them both, switching which person he was pointing at with what finger until his hands made an X formation. “You two…”

Kara looked about as red as Barry felt.

“Oh my god, Barry.” Caitlin stood up and put her hands on her hips.

“Cisco, didn’t you have something you wanted to show Kara?” Barry asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject, thankfully Cisco caught his drift and nodded.

_ I’m gonna hear about this later… _

“Well, I fell asleep waiting for Barry to bring me my food, and I had a dream.” He turned around and picked up a simple pair of tortoiseshell glasses off the desk.  “Put these on.”

“Cisco, I really don’t think glasses really work as a disguise, I think that’s just in comic books.” She took the glasses gingerly and slid them on.

“Woah.” Barry breathed, taking a step back.

“What?” Kara looked at him quizically.

Barry knew it was Kara, it still sounded like her, but where Kara had been standing was a woman with long brown hair, it was still Kara’s face vaguely but her cheeks were more filled out and her jawline wasn’t as sharp.

“How did you do that, Cisco?” Caitlin asked.

“I call it, facial transmogrification, it’s just a thin hologram laid over your face and body,” Cisco picked up a packet and a mirror and threw them at Kara who fumbled to catch them.  “Meet Linda Lee, your new alter-ego.”

“Woah…” She tilted her head to either side as she looked in the mirror. “Linda Lee?  That’s kind of a stupid name, isn’t it?”

“I saw it in a comic book once, I thought it was cool,” Cisco said, Kara rolled her eyes in response.

_ I guess even when she looks different, it’s still Kara.  _ Barry thought with a smile.

“Your fake ID and everything is in the packet, including a backstory.” Cisco crossed his arms proudly.

“I’m not reading a backstory, Cisco,” Kara said as she rifled through the packet. “How did you do this so fast?  Are you sure you have a life?”

“I just have a lot of free time!” Cisco argued, throwing his hands up. “Nobody appreciates a good tragic backstory these days.”

“Kara, can I talk to you for a minute?” Barry asked.

“Uh…” Kara hesitated. “Okay.”

 

__

 

Barry led Kara down the hall and into what she assumed was Cisco’s workshop.

“Listen, if this is about last night…” Kara took off her glasses, her form shifting back to normal.  

_ That’s still super weird.  _ She tucked them into her pocket.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you like that, I’m sorry, it just...It just happened and then you kissed me and, wow…” She was babbling again and she kicked herself mentally for it.

Barry leaned against one of Cisco’s tool carts with a sigh.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” He rubbed the back of his head with one hand. “I mean, wow, that kiss was…”

_ Beautiful? Amazing? Awesome? Some other adjectives?  _ She thought.

“We can’t do this.” Kara interrupted her own thoughts. “I have to go.”

“Kara,” Barry sighed.

“I can’t stay here, Barry, we both know that,” She continued.

“That was before Cisco made you those glasses, you look like a completely different person with those,” Barry argued, taking her hand in his. “Don’t tell me you don’t feel it too..” He murmured.

Kara looked down at their entwined hands and sighed, her heart quickening at what she was about to say.  

“I think this is a mistake…” She met his eyes.  “But...Okay,” She whispered, almost too quiet to hear.

“Really?” Barry grinned, and god he looked as lovestruck as she felt.

Love _ struck?  I’m in too deep... _

“Yeah.” Kara didn’t meet his eyes, but she was smiling, she let the hand that wasn’t holding his reach up and grab the collar of his shirt and pulled him down toward her.

“Don’t mind me, I just…” Cisco barged in, trying to slip past them to get to the tool cart Barry had been leaning on.

“Cisco!” They turned toward him in unison and shouted.

_ And that’s how a moment ruined.  _ Kara rolled her eyes and let go of Barry’s collar.

“Sorry!” Cisco grabbed the tool he was looking for.  “I’m getting out, sorry!” He walked out the workshop, Kara was almost tempted to heat vision him in the butt to get him to go faster.

“We’d better get back there before he tells Caitlin.” He rubbed the back of his head.

“Yeah…” Kara sighed.

“But…” Barry grinned at her mischievously.

“Wha-” She started to say, but Barry interrupted her by running his hand along her cheek and pulling her in for another kiss.  But she wasn’t complaining.

 

They returned to the cortex after longer than either of them were willing to admit.

“Ah, the two lovebirds I’ve been hearing so much about.” A man in a wheelchair wheeled around to face them and Kara’s heart seized up in fear, she grabbed Barry’s hand for support.  “I don’t believe we’ve been formally acquainted, I’m Dr. Harrison Wells.” He held out his hand to shake.

Kara gingerly took his hand and shook it.

“The team tells me you’re joining us, Kara Danvers, correct?” He smiled kindly at her but it didn’t quite reach his eyes like he was hiding something.

“Yes…” She replied.

“Dr. Wells,” Barry interjected, clearly seeing that Kara was uncomfortable. “How was the conference?”

“Oh, Doctor McGee and I were at odds, the usual.” Dr. Wells wheeled away as he talked.  “How did the fort hold down while I was gone?”

“We’ve been hunting a grave robber, Wanda Miller.” Cisco pulled up her digital file on the screen. “I’ve had the satellite looking for her, but I can’t find anything.”

“Strange…” Dr. Wells mused. 

“She robbed the grave of her deceased sister, Jessica Miller and took her body to her storage unit.” Caitlin shuddered as she talked.

“Speaking of, I have to get to that crime scene, do you want to come with, Kara?” Barry said, he looked over at her.

“Me?  Why?” Kara looked at him quizically.  “I’m a coffee barista, not a CSI.”

“Yes, you, Kara Danvers, are, but Linda Lee,” Barry reached into her pocket and slipped the glasses onto her face. “Is apprenticing under me in forensics.”

“Really?” Kara looked over at Cisco who shrugged.

“I can do that.” He said.

“See?” Barry grinned. “Let’s go.”

 

__

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tune in next week for the return of these two idiots  
> i cut this chapter in half so it won't be as long of a wait
> 
> don't know what to comment? try this  
> -what did you like?  
> -what didn't you like?  
> -what do you want to see?  
> -did something make you laugh?

**Author's Note:**

> Hope yall liked it, I need a Beta Reader so if anyone is interested please dm me.  
> This is set in like season 1 of The Flash in case anyone was curious.  
> (commenting is the best way to get me to continue.)


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